


Silver Dragons

by Malind



Category: Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst, Asexual Character, Crossover, M/M, Murder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 18:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9453602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malind/pseuds/Malind
Summary: On the brink of death, Kuja falls into an unknown world, literally into a stranger's bed, with only the desire of returning to his own and Zidane.





	1. An Unexpected Guest

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the first 8 chapters in 2015. I _do_ still want to write more. I just don't know when that'll happen. T.T

For a full force collision, the landing was surprisingly soft, but his barely conscious mind and pain-drenched body hardly could have felt it either way.  Laying there, barely breathing, he only caught sounds that aggravated his ears, a sudden light that tried to claw his eyes out, and finally a touch that sent his mind over the edge.

When his mind dragged itself out of unconsciousness, who knew how much time later, only a bit of distant light blurred his vision as he cracked open his eyes.  At least this time he could tolerate it.  Slowly, his mind swimming, his eyes adjusted and focused on what was undeniably a ceiling in a room, and not a giant tree hell-bent on destroying him.

Fragments of a voice streamed into his head.  Kuja blinked, attempting to focus on the unfamiliar sound. 

Then, despite the distraction, he remembered:  Zidane, the foolish... and brave genome.  Zidane had attempted to save him, even when Kuja had told him to flee, to save himself.  Even after Kuja had tried to destroy the world. 

Kuja jerked his head, trying to find the other genome.  Instead, he caught sight of unfamiliar cat-like aquamarine eyes.  His hands clawed at cloth, trying to gain traction, as he tried to bolt up, realizing the vulnerable position he was in.  Metal springs sang around him, piercing the otherwise quiet room, and he realized he was in a bed.  However, his efforts did little more than terrorize his body further.  He groaned weakly as he came to a halt.

The person near him took a heavy step closer but no more.  Kuja refocused on the person's face, tracing lines, and concluded that the person was male.  The stranger's body did little more than confirm that.  Actually, the man was a rather large and tall male by anyone's standards.  He was clothed in a robe that draped open around his chest, revealing a play of white and red battle scars.

At the realization, Kuja again tried to sit up, but a hand touched his shoulder and a quiet, smooth, cold voice stilled him.

"I tried to heal you the best I could, but...  The damage seems to be more magic in nature.  Wounds like yours don't heal easily, and your body doesn't seem to want to heal.  And you seem to be someone..."

Someone?  Or something?  Kuja gritted his teeth and forced with everything alive in him to sit up.  His head drooped as dizziness only increased, but with a triumphant sigh, his body stayed upright.  Then, angering him, strong hands took over most of his bare shoulders and pushed him back down onto the bed.

"Just rest," the man murmured, his voice warmer than it'd been a few moments before.

His shoulders were bare?  He blinked again, realizing that, yes, they were bare, and so was everything else, even though a thin sheet covered a bit over half of him.  He could imagine the sight:  Pale skin, and only pale skin.  No nipples, nothing at his groin, not even a trace of hair that wasn't on his head, things he knew this human surely had. 

Built according to Garland's specifications, after all, how could a genome, created only to cause chaos and destruction, have use for objects of distraction?

Unthinkingly, reeling with mortification over everything the human might have seen and done, he gripped at the sheet and pulled it higher.  There wasn't a being on the planet, outside of his creator, who had seen him naked and he wasn't about to start with this man.  Or had he already?

"You were like that when you... arrived."

Kuja glared pure death, unable to help it.   He just wanted the human to be silent, to be still, to not exist.  The desire brought a flare of light to his belly that, unfortunately, did little more than swelter. 

Was he so weak that he couldn't even summon light? 

The other man frowned, as if he could sense what the genome was trying to do.  Maybe he could.  That idea stilled him.  He had no idea what he was up against at that point.  Better to play the part than regret a fight he couldn't win. 

And what had happened to wanting death so badly?  So badly, in fact, that it may have cost Zidane his life, since the first attempt hadn't worked.

Holding the sheet to his chest, he again sat up, caring nothing for this human's seeming concern nor for his own body's desire for mercy.

"Zidane.  Tell me where he is!"

The man frowned at him then shook his head slightly.  "You were alone."

Kuja looked up at the other man through the long lashes his 'father' had given him to deceive, frowning himself.  With the other man's calm, although obviously as disturbed by the situation as much as Kuja was, Kuja believed him.  Kuja sucked in a breath and the asked, "Where am I?"

"You're in my bed."

Kuja felt his mouth open but nothing but his breath came out as his mind scrambled to work out his situation.  He looked over the man and realized that the robe was draped on him quite haphazardly, as if he'd put it on the moment Kuja had 'arrived' in the room.  The light behind the stranger told Kuja that, underneath the thin, dark robe, the man was quite naked himself.  The human apparently slept bare.  At least, hopefully that was the reason.

Wide-eyed, the genome, adrift in the wide expanse of a bed, shoved himself forward and off, taking the sheet with him.

The human put out his hands, as if to steady a wild horse, and blurted out, as if he could read Kuja's mind, or perhaps he'd just followed his gaze, "I didn't touch you.  Any more than I had to, anyway."

Kuja growled, staggering slightly, willing his all too weak body to remain upright.  In one moment to the next, he knees buckling, the human grabbed him by the upper arms and lifted him so that his toes barely touched the ground and sat him back on the edge of the bed.

"Sit, at least," the man mumbled close to his ear as he continued to hold his arms.

Kuja twisted his head away.  Slowly, the human let him go, restraightening, as if testing Kuja's will to defy.  And the genome sat there willingly.  But which was worse? Stumbling around like a wretch or being semi-dignified sitting on a human's bed?  He wasn't sure, so he sat since it was the path of least resistance.  His tail twitched behind him, underneath the sheet, bringing the human's attention to it.

The man stared at it with an obvious puzzlement that further enraged the creature.  Hadn't this man ever seen a tail before?

"If you don't mind me asking..." the human mumbled, obviously knowing Kuja would mind, as his words drifted off.  "What are you?"

Couldn't the he tell what Kuja was?  Genome weren't exactly uncommon in the world.

"You expect me to dignify that with a response?"

The man didn't reply, relieving Kuja.  He didn't want to say what he was in his mind, let alone with his voice.  The mere truth left him drowning in his wretchedness. 

Done looking at the human, Kuja took in the far wall instead in the dimness, and then puzzled at its oddness.  The room and the objects in it were half metal, half some other smooth material.  It was almost as if the room had been built by a heartless machine.  The room was cold, calculated.  There wasn't even a potted plant to break the harshness.

Silver hair billowed as the human crouched down in front of him, the break in his robe giving way to a long leg.  Kuja looked down at him for the first time.  The man looked at him with such wonder and puzzlement that Kuja didn't have much other choice than to look away.  Had this man truly never seen a genome before?  Although, he supposed, he was unlike any genome ever created.  Even Zidane was so different, except for his tail.  Kuja tried to shift back further on the bed but then realized that being in this man's bed wasn't exactly a better alternative.

The moment lengthened, neither of them saying a word.  Finally Kuja couldn't take the silence any longer.  His voice much louder than he wanted it to be, he growled, "I must find my... my friend, Zidane."

"If you tried to leave, well, considering..."  Considering what exactly?  But the human didn't specify.  "I could check my computer and find out if any reports have come in."

With the human seemingly being, well, protective, Kuja couldn't help looking back to him.  Did that mean this human hadn't 'reported' his appearance?  "Computer?"

"Yes, my computer."  His long arm pointed to a distant table that had a box on the top of it, glass framed in some kind of solid black material.

"All right?"

The human stood and walked over to the computer, hitting buttons on a separate contraption that clunked lightly, pulling up words on the glass that had lit up at his first touch.  Kuja watched him, as confused as ever, well, even more so.  He'd seen his fair share of technology, but these simple objects were beyond the airships and weapons of Gaia, at least that he knew of. 

"Where am I exactly?"

The man turned his head, his face blocked partially by cascades of long silver hair that nearly put his own feathered locks to shame.  "You're in Midgar."

"Midgar?"

The human's lips pursed and he stood back up, turned, but stayed there and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is this place, the planet called Gaia?"  Silver brows furrowed at him, clearly stating, 'No, what the hell are you talking about?' and Kuja tried to stand once again, his head swimming with far more than pain.  What hell had the planet put him in when it'd turned on him?

Then, in his moment of panic, something occurred to him:  If this wasn't Gaia, how were they able to communicate?  Luck?  He didn't believe in luck.  He straightened the best he could, ignoring the wobbling of his legs, and stared at the other person as the man stared back. 

Finally, his mind settled on gaining one small piece of information that at least had a good chance of making sense: "What is your name?"

"Sephiroth.  And yours?"

It figured.  The genome smirked.  No, the name didn't make much more sense, foreign to his lips.  At least the man looked human and therefore familiar in that sense.  "Kuja."

"Kuja...  I'm going to guess that you have absolutely no idea why you're here."

Was it that obvious?  Yes, it probably was.

"I couldn't find any references in the database to a man with a tail.  Either he's not here, he hasn't been found, or he hasn't been reported."

Was that good or bad?  Kuja didn't know.  But the idea left him empty.  But then, he stretched his mind, trying to find Zidane in the way his kind could.  He called out his name in the abyss.  Nothing.  No one replied.  When his eyes looked back onto Sephiroth, the human looked more confused than ever. 

"I-I heard you, but your lips didn't move.  You called out his name."

"You heard me?"

"Yes.  How did you do that?"

Kuja frowned, as he knees buckled, exhausted mentally and physically, letting his backside take its place back on the bed.  "Genomes can talk with one another through their minds."  Was this man a genome?  Kuja felt out with his mind.  Instantly, the human's breath quickened.  No, he wasn't genome, but there was definitely something inside of him that screamed genome, screamed like himself.  What kind of creature was this person?

Sephiroth's grips seemed to cut into his own arms until Kuja withdrew from his mind.  Neither man moved for a long time, both probably trying to figure out the other. 

When Kuja couldn't gain any answers merely by staring, he looked away and, already exhausted by the whole situation, tried to focus his mind, tried to heal his decaying body with thought, tried to find his strength. 

He needed to get out of there, out of this confusing world, and back into his own to find Zidane, to make sure he was safe.  To thank him for risking his own life to save him.  To tell him once again that he was sorry.  So sorry.  And standing in this human's room was doing nothing to help him.

Kuja built a warmth in his body, nurtured it, willed it to consume him.  He ignored the footsteps that drew closer.  But he couldn't ignore the whisper in his open mind:

//God, she's beautiful...//

His eyes fluttered open, the light surrounding his body dimming.  His brows furrowed.  "She?  You think I'm a woman?"

"You..."

"I may not be a man either, but I'm certainly not a woman.  Garland fashioned me to be a destroyer, not a creator."

"I...  I'm sorry.  I thought..."

The man's thought had been innocent enough and Kuja saw no reason to, well, didn't want to delve further into the matter with him. 

Kuja didn't know why Garland had made his body so feminine when his mind was so male.  It was something never worth his time to contemplate too deeply. 

However, with the other man blatantly staring at him now, he pulled the sheet up just that much higher and ended up questioning himself.  Was his form really so shocking?  He knew, from a human's, or whatever this creature was, perspective, he was strange.  But any looks he'd gotten before, from any human, he'd never let bother him because he'd always thought himself beautiful, his outward preening and revealing clothing proof of that. 

But never before had Kuja revealed this much, especially against his will.  He knew he had some trace of odd modesty, after all.  But put in his mind by who? Garland, surely.  The man had clothed him the first chance he'd gotten, he remembered.  Perhaps...

Perhaps his form had been a slip of Garland's mind, some hidden desire the madman had had.  The idea made him shudder.

"Let me see if I can find you something to wear," Sephiroth said over his shoulder as he stalked away, probably realizing his own stupidity over the matter.  Did the human really want to see him naked, after all, especially if Kuja wasn't a woman?

Less than a minute later, Sephiroth came back to the bed, handing him a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, both black, as black as Sephiroth's semi-transparent robe.  Did this man want to hide himself so much when he was so striking, for a human anyway?  But Kuja didn't say the words as he accepted the clothing. 

The human stared for a moment, but then turned away and walked a few steps.  Then he seemed to think better of it and left the room, closing the door quietly behind himself.

Feeling a bit better now after his partial trance, Kuja stared at the door for nearly a minute before he started slipping on the clothing that was too large for him.  But his hips managed to keep up the waist of the pants, even if his tail edged it downwards, and a t-shirt could have fit anyone with wide enough shoulders.  The elastic at the bottoms of the pants kept the too-long legs from tripping him.  He looked down at the odd, drab clothing, but could do little more than shrug.  It was better than a thin sheet and nothing at all.

Still a bit wobbly, the genome walked to the door, laying his hands on it, listening, before he turned the handle.  When he opened it, he found himself baffled over the man pouring two drinks on the counter of a kitchenette.  Sephiroth immediately raised his head when the door opened.  This man certainly didn't know anything about genomes. 

"I don't drink."

"I don't either.  It's not alcohol."

"No, I mean, I don't drink.  At all.  But..."  The confused look in Sephiroth's eyes gave him pause.  "But thank you."

That was more than enough pleasantries to last a lifetime.  Kuja looked for what must have been the front door, ready to get out of the room and find a way out of this hell and back to his own.  He started wobbly stalking towards it.

"Wait.  We're stories off of the ground.  The building is secured.  Unescorted, you won't get far.  I'll come with you, if you insist on leaving."

Insist?  This human, or whatever he was, didn't have much respect for a near god who could destroy a planet at will.  Of course, Sephiroth probably didn't realize what Kuja was.  

However, considering his weakened state and the likelihood that Sephiroth knew what he was talking about, Kuja stopped, smirked, and murmured, "Show me the way, if you will."

At the words, Sephiroth stalked back into the bedroom, dressing in clothes similar to the clothing Sephiroth had given him, well, exactly the same as his own.  During his short wait, Kuja looked around again, taking in the black metal furniture, black curtains, and overall darkness brightened only be the clinical white of the walls and the overhead light.

The human walked over to him, looking at his tail.  "Could you conceal that, by chance?"

His tail twitched his annoyance but he tucked it away into his pants, taking the warning to heart.

After a nod, Sephiroth led him from the room and immediately to an elevator that hummed smoothly on the way down.  Kuja looked down onto the night's landscape.  Had the sky not been black, he would have thought it was day with the brightness of the city.  Green fire spewed out of giant machines in the distance that lined the border.  The sight brought a fear to him because he didn't recognize any of it, couldn't even begin to describe the unnaturalness of the city without taking far more time than the fast trip down would have allowed.

Then the elevator dinged, opened, but Sephiroth didn't move.  A man walked in, looked over them both with a raised brow, and grinned at Sephiroth.  "Didn't even let him grab his clothes, Sephiroth?  Usually you're not in that much of a hurry to get rid of them."

"Not now, Genesis." Sephiroth had been looking ahead, but then gave the other man a look over.  "You're not going out this late, are you?  It's well past curfew."

"I could say the same thing to you."

Kuja looked between the taller men, already quite disturbed by the conversation since it shoved the unknown more into his face.  In his present condition, he wasn't sure how well he could have defended himself.

Genesis gave him a much slower look over than before and smiled.  "Maybe I could escort him home. If you're not going to, that is.  I was meeting Angeal, but the man can wait.  He's done it before."

Well, at least this one got his gender right, sort of.  Or at least Genesis did when Kuja's body was covered up by clothing several sizes too large for him.

Then, making Kuja suck in his breath, Sephiroth suddenly put his arm around him, possessive, pulling him against his body.  Barely coming to the man's chin, the embrace beat what could have been considered his heart. "No, I am."

"But you don't have shoes on."

Sephiroth slammed a hand on the button that stopped them at the upcoming floor.  When the door opened, he growled, "Take the next one.  We're going back up."

Genesis strolled out, turned around, and grinned at Kuja.  "Don't let him keep you up all night for both of your sakes, good sir.  Our great General has work tomorrow, as if he ever doesn't."

Letting Kuja go, Sephiroth repeatedly slammed his fist on the 'close door' button as the words were spoken, but Kuja managed to catch all of them.  The General then hit the stop button and they sat in the elevator together. 

"Are you sure you want to go out there like this?  This isn't the safest city in the world and Genesis was one of the better people out there.  We could go back upstairs and..."

And what?  If Genesis' words had put similar ideas into Sephiroth as were in his own, Kuja didn't think they should go back upstairs.  At that moment he also realized that Sephiroth apparently had no real objection to making his 'affection' known when both men were referring to him as a man.  The thought boiled his fear.  The idea of being an object of lust, for any reason, scared him to no end for reasons he couldn't fathom.  Yes, he'd always worn clothing that had left little to the imagination, but he'd done it because he took pleasure in it, not so others would lust after him.

Kuja knew he couldn't achieve a full trance at that moment that would have allowed him to simply fly away and be rid of his companion and whatever other craziness consumed this race of people.  For the time being, his fate had to rely on more human ways of doing things.  He glanced back out into the city, taking in its size.  How long would it take him to leave it, especially when he didn't know the way and would probably become weaker with every step?  He needed his strength back.  He needed to be reasonable or he might never make it back home.  At least this man had seemed more or less safe up to that point.

After a small shake of his head that sent cascades of silver locks fluttering, attempting to dismiss the fears he had, he murmured, with a voice that barely filled the small elevator, "I accept your offer."

Sephiroth looked down at him, his brows raised before they furrowed a second later.  The man had obviously thought he was going to refuse.  His gaze fluttering over Kuja's face for a moment, searching, Sephiroth finally started the elevator again and they traveled back up. 

Kuja looked onto the cityscape, to distract himself from the other man, but then found himself disturbed by the fear the city brought out in him.  He'd been created to take down alien landscapes.  This one shouldn't have been any different.  But he also knew why it was:  on his deathbed, he'd promised himself and Zidane that he'd never do it again.

To simply live in a world and not have every thought dwell on its destruction...  Yes, it brought fear to his very being.  Would he have promised such a thing if he'd known he'd feel this way?

When the elevator dinged once again, Kuja looked up and realized Sephiroth had been looking down at him with a look that made him glad he wasn't reaching out with his mind.  Sephiroth walked ahead of him and down the hallway, leading the way back to his apartment.  Kuja's steps fell behind the man's long strides, but he didn't feel he had the energy to try to keep up.  After opening his door with his keycard, Sephiroth held the door open for him and Kuja cautiously reentered the room.

"I'll take the couch.  You need the bed more than I do."

Kuja bit his lip, but Sephiroth didn't seem to mind the idea at all, so he nodded slightly and walked to the bedroom.  He laid down on the bed, pillowed by the softness, and rested his head on the softer pillow, brushing silver locks off his face.  He looked back to the open door and suddenly wished he'd closed it.  Outside, on the couch, with a clear view to the bed, Sephiroth looked back at him, probably not realizing Kuja watched him back in the darkness. 

Cautious, curious, the creature reached out with his mind.  In Sephiroth's mind, Kuja saw himself but naked and glowing and, well, beautiful.


	2. Behind Open Doors

Throughout the remaining night, Sephiroth never managed to get his eyes closed for more than a moment at a time.  Hour after hour, he failed to banish Kuja from his mind.  His eyes repeatedly traced the curve of the person's small body in the dim light that made it into the bedroom, both consciously and against his will.  Eventually, it occurred to him that perhaps he couldn't sleep because the overhead light blared.  Another hour later, he realized that turning it off hadn't help.  Even when the sun shined through the tiny holes in the fabric of black curtains, sleep still couldn't touch him.  

And by then, he still didn't have a clue what to think of the creature who'd landed on his bed from some unknown origin, seemingly out of nowhere.  There wasn't a hole anywhere to be found.  He'd checked.  He's also checked with the computer system hours before which had told him his doors and windows had never opened. 

Besides, why would a half-dead man with a tail, naked as the day he was born, have run into his apartment and flopped down onto his bed, all without setting off a single alarm in a secured building, his apartment far off of the ground within the top quarter of the facility?  It didn't make any sense.

In fact, none of the whole ordeal made any sense, well, except for Genesis' typical reaction.  Sephiroth shook his head the best he could with his head against a stiff throw pillow.  At least one of them had gotten Kuja's professed gender right.

Focusing again at the creature lying on his bed in the dim morning light, Kuja seemed harmless, for the most part.  The only things that made him think other possibilities were the obvious magical abilities Kuja possessed without a trace of materia to aid him, and the fact that he was obviously not human.  Again, he questioned his offering to let Kuja stay, but he couldn't have let the creature leave without feeling very real fear for his wellbeing.  A science experiment himself, he knew the coldness of those around him and of scientists in particular.  If someone, especially Hojo, had gotten ahold of Kuja, he could only imagine what they would have done to him.

Barely an hour past dawn, when the forgotten alarm in the bedroom finally went off, he dashed to the room to turn it off.  Obviously, it was too late.  Kuja sat up in bed with more ease than he'd done the night before.  Slightly narrowed eyes watched the general's every movement.

Sephiroth couldn't help himself as he once again stole a quick glance to confirm the inhumanness of Kuja, but the oversized clothing did a good job of covering it up.  Nonetheless, forever etched in his memory was the creature's smooth, but curved doll-like form.  A form he'd first thought was female. 

Self-conscious of his own mind, feeling unwelcome traces of the creature in it, Sephiroth cleared his throat with a, "Good morning," grabbed his uniform, and headed to the bathroom.  He did his best to clean up and get ready with the obvious distraction far too close for comfort.  He'd had men in his apartment before, typical horny men he could usher back out as quickly as he'd invited them in, but never someone like this.  Obviously.

A towel around his waist, he opened the door to let some of the steam out and took to brushing his long, damp hair in front of the fogged-up mirror, when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye.  He turned his head and watched Kuja come to a stop, staring back.  The creature's mouth opened, then he looked to the curtain drawn window, walked over to it, and drew one aside.  Sephiroth watched him take in the landscape for a moment, but then remembered himself and continued with his brushing, trying to make his own stare not quite so blatant.

Soon, out of decency, he closed the door and put on his uniform.  There was nothing more than a line of meetings and troop cheerleading to do that day, but he'd never missed a day of work.  He wasn't about to start that day, even though it was an excellent day to play hooky as far as the irrational part of his mind was concerned.  Or was that the rational part?

When he stepped out of the bathroom, only needing his boots and sword, Kuja turned and looked him over.  "You're leaving?"

The simple words brought an odd pause to his body and mind.  He'd never heard them before in this particular kind of situation because he'd always kicked his temporary lovers out before they got the chance.  Then again, he hadn't slept with Kuja.

"Yes.  Unfortunately I have duties to attend to.  But I'll be back in a few hours.  You're welcome to make use of whatever you like."  If the guy didn't drink and probably didn't eat, what did he do with his time?  "Just don't leave."

Kuja frowned at him and the expression was as beautiful as any of his other expressions.  Sephiroth had to look away before his body reacted to it as much as his mind did.

Then the creature touched his mind, making his eyes dart back up to meet Kuja's.  He wondered how long it would take for the sensation of Kuja in his mind to be normal.  As if their unwilling relationship was going to last long enough to find out.  Did Kuja really want to know what he thought?  Did he think Sephiroth was untruthful? 

The smile on Kuja's lips brought a heat to the general's body.  "I'm sorry."

Trying to brush off all of the swarming sensations, Sephiroth muttered, "You'll stay here?"

"Yes."

Sephiroth could hear the 'for now' but ignored it.  He couldn't expect Kuja to stay in his apartment forever.  And even if he did, he knew Kuja wouldn't.

"I'll be back as soon as I can.  If you wish to leave then, I'll escort you to wherever it is you wish to go."

Kuja nodded once and then looked back out the window, probably as lost in his own thoughts as much as his eyes were lost over the scenery.  After nearly a minute, Sephiroth realized his stare and cursed his mind for it. 

The creature obviously didn't hold the same curiosity and interest in him as he did for Kuja.  As such, he was being stupid and foolish.  And immature.  And, unfortunately, hormonal, being barely past his teenage years.  God, he hated his hormones.  They'd gotten him into trouble more than enough times and were the one thing he couldn't control without significant effort.  He was well past looking forward to another ten or twenty years down the road when their edge would dull.  Hopefully.

Growling at himself, he fastened on his boots and stalked out the door, leaving his sword behind.  Meetings held little need for one outside of the desire to slice his own neck out of painful boredom.  He'd come back for it later for the cheerleading for the troops he was required to do once a week to keep them motivated.

In the meeting room, President Shinra and Lazard were like talking, wobbling heads.  He sat there, watching their lips move, not really hearing it.  Everything they said he already knew from his own research and experience.  The words were more for the benefit of the other office dwellers that didn't get out onto the field.  He nodded occasionally, mostly when he saw others do it out of the corner of his eye, and tried to keep his mind on the moving lips instead of who was hopefully still waiting in his apartment.

When the final meeting finally drew to a close, he stood up, but Lazard stepped into his path.  "Sephiroth, I'd like a word with you."

"Of course."

Lazard nodded, gesturing towards the door.  Sephiroth took the hint and headed to the man's office down the hallway.  When they entered the spacious room, Lazard took a seat at his desk, immediately setting to work on his computer.  After a moment, he turned the monitor so that Sephiroth could see it.

Sephiroth took a step forward and focused on the screen and instantly gritted his teeth.  He saw himself, Genesis, and Kuja in the elevator the night before.

"Tseng brought this to my attention this morning.  Oddly enough, there's no record of him..."  He pointed to the shorter silver-haired man on the screen.  "...leaving the building.  And more interestingly, no record of him even entering.  So I'll presume he's still here, unless he's somehow able to teleport."  The man paused to look at him pointedly.  "As you know, there are set rules about guests in our facility.  All guests must check in, have their identities verified, and check out when they leave.  We cannot have a secure facility if we don't follow these simple rules."

The older man sat back in his chair, forcing the thing to groan as it tried to hold his weight.  "Normally I would let something like this slide, but considering there isn't even a -video- record of him entering the building, I'm sure you can understand my concern."

Sephiroth's mouth opened, but he couldn't think of a thing to say.  How could he explain the Kuja's sudden appearance?  There wasn't a scenario even he would have believed.  They had video cameras in nearly every corridor and every elevator.  How could have Kuja gotten in?  He had to think.  And fast.

The only thing he could come up with was:  "He's been living with me for weeks."

"Weeks?"

"Yes."

"And...  And this is the first time he's left?  In weeks?"

"Yes.  He doesn't like soldiers.  Besides me, of course," he added with a smile.

Lazard's mouth worked for a moment.  "And what day exactly did he arrive?"

"I don't remember the exact day."

"But he wasn't checked in?"

"No."

"Okay..."  Lazard frowned, his hand at his chin, clearly processing the information.  "...Okay, well, thank you for clarifying.  But I would like you to check him in today.  And you do know the rules about co-habitation?"

Sephiroth nodded.  "Yes, of course."

"Okay, well, thank you for your time.  I'll see you later today on the field."

"Of course.  I'm looking forward to it."  Sephiroth turned around and stalked straight back to his room, never sparing a normal nod, or even a glace for anyone who got in his way.  What was he going to do?   He had to get Kuja out of there.  Now.  He couldn't protect him in a facility that had cameras and searching eyes invading nearly every inch of it.  And he should have already known that.

When he entered his apartment, he opened the door so venomously that it slammed against the inner wall.  To his great relief, Kuja was still there.

The smaller person, who had been sitting on the couch, looking out the curtain draw windows, letting in bright light that his apartment usually wasn't bathed in, jerked to stand upright.  His eyes were wide, his body stiff, although its stiffness couldn't affect the rumpled clothing much.

Catching himself, trying to calm himself down, Sephiroth closed the door much more gently than he'd opened it, although it still made a considerable bang.  He turned back around and, as calmly as he could manage, stated, "We have to leave.  They know you're here and it won't take them all that long to figure out you never arrived through a door.  But however you got in here, I've been ordered to check you in...  I suspect they won't be able to perform a background check on you?"

"A background check?" Kuja asked with obvious confusion, his face pinched. 

Sephiroth shook his head, looking to Kuja's feet, remembering Genesis' comment from before.  "Never mind." 

Remembering then that he had them, he took a few steps to the entryway closet and found a pair of white slippers one of his past lovers had left behind.  He didn't think Kuja's small feet could have fit into his own shoes without lots of duct tape. 

As he found the slippers, he added, trying to not let the fear into his voice, "If you want out of this building, we're going to have to leave now."

He should have gotten him out when he'd had the chance, when it wouldn't have been so obvious.  But it was too late to regret what could no longer be helped. 

Unable to help himself, he grabbed his sword. Doing so might bring more attention on them, but at that time of day, he could have explained it as needing it for his time with the troops.   Besides, if he knew anything about ShinRa, he knew they only told a person what they needed to know to get a job done.  So he had no idea what they really knew about Kuja.

Sephiroth opened the door again and Kuja looked up at him with a frown as he passed.  The creature obviously had no idea what the ShinRa facility was about or he would have been running out the door.  Perhaps, instead of searching his mind for embarrassing tidbits earlier, Kuja should have been looking in his mind right at that moment.

At least, Sephiroth noticed, Kuja could walk more or less straight on his own at that point.  Any bruising and lacerations the soldier had already healed before Kuja had regained consciousness.  And Kuja had apparently been able to take care of some of the rest on his own.  He remembered the creature glowing beautifully and shook his head slightly to banish the memory.

They took the elevator and then the inner elevator until they reached the ground floor.  However, instead of stopping at the desk, he put Kuja in front of him and marched him straight out the front door.  The woman at the desk called out to them in one brief plea, probably already knowing to expect them.  He didn't even slow down for it.  He walked them straight onto the plate in front of them, losing themselves in the crowd of city dwellers who weren't destined to live a life of smog-filled, lightless misery.

Kuja walked next to him, trying to keep up, but he could tell the shorter person was tiring quickly.  He looked around for a good place to stop to rest, but on the upper plates, nearly every street had a camera.  They needed to get to the slums.

Knowing the topology of the city well, Sephiroth steered Kuja to the nearest metal staircase that would lead them down.  He didn't know the slums quite as well as the top plates, but he knew them well enough to get them to Wall Market, knowing there was a hotel there that offered a certain amount of confidentiality. 

The Honey Bee Inn was out of the question since they charged by the hour and required a credit card.  Besides, did he really want to take Kuja into a place like that?  He looked down at him briefly, the sway of his hips, the feathered locks of silver hair that teased glances at his lovely face, and decided, without meaning to, that he probably would have fit in there disturbingly too easily.

After losing some Gil, finally entering the hotel room, Sephiroth closed the door behind them.  Kuja sat on one of the grimy beds, hunched over, his shoulders moving up and down with his heavy breaths.

"Rest, but I need to get you out of the city as soon as possible."

Kuja looked up at him through heavy lashes.  "I do want to leave, but tell me, why the sudden urgency?"

"You don't want to know."

The genome straightened, radiating an air of nobility few could have achieved in exercise clothing.  "You seem to think of me as an innocent, but I assure you I'm not."

Sephiroth couldn't help his half-hysterical huff of laughter.  How to put it nicely?   "Because this city is full of obsessed, demented people that would enjoy locking you up in a cage for merely existing and experimenting on you until you're dead.  I can't protect you if you stay here.  Not without..."

Without losing everything he knew.  To battle against Hojo and ShinRa would mean the death of them or himself.  There would be no middle ground, since he knew with everything inside of himself that Hojo would fight for Kuja.  But there was no way in hell he was letting that man touch him.

And he felt so strongly about this creature he'd just met because...  He didn't know.  But surely there was some reason this creature had dropped into his bed and not someone else's.  Clearly someone had wanted him to protect him.  Or it was all just some irrational coincidence.  Actually, neither idea made much sense.

"Then why do you stay here?"

The words caught him off guard.  He stared at Kuja for a moment, trying to figure out why the creature had dared to say them.  After all, the idea of leaving was crazy.  At least, anyone else in the world would have said so.  As for him, he'd been thinking that same thing for far too long.  "It's...  It's not as simple as I'd like it to be."

The words earned him a frown.  Eventually, Kuja looked away and to the silent TV on the stand, frowning at it as well.  Then he muttered, "When I killed my creator, I realized that it was all so simple."  Kuja smirked.  "And then, when I attempted to destroy Gaia as well, I realized nothing was simple.  At least, it wasn't when it came to love."

The whole of the words left Sephiroth overwhelmed.  If the words were to be taken literally...  Had Kuja killed people?  Tried to destroy an entire planet?  He couldn't imagine it.  "You were almost dead when..."

"Zidane and his friends stopped me from destroying our world, well, their world.  I was created for chaos and to destroy worlds."  His face so innocent looking, Kuja shook his head slightly, his arms crossing over his chest.

"But you're looking for Zidane."

"Yes.  He saved me, or at least he tried to, when the world wanted me dead for what I'd done.  But now I'm here and I don't know why.  And he may be dead."

Sephiroth dwelled on the words, shocked by them.  If he'd known these things before he'd attempted to help Kuja...  Perhaps he should have reported him, turned him over to the proper authorities.  If what he was saying was true, perhaps this creature didn't deserve any mercy. 

Like the mercy Zidane had supposedly shown him.

Shaking his head, he leaned against the door, closed his eyes, and tried to straighten out his own thoughts and motivations.

His voice barely above a whisper, Kuja offered, "I was angry because I was only a pawn, something created to be tossed away.  I stopped Garland from taking the throne he expected Zidane and me to create for him.  And then I attempted to rule everything, everyone, but Gaia didn't want that.  I understand now why that is, when it's unfortunately too late.  But that world is safe from me."  He huffed a laugh and shrugged slightly.  "Perhaps this is the second chance I couldn't have had on Gaia."

"Perhaps."

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe you and that's the problem."

"You don't believe I deserve forgiveness then."

"I don't know."

"You don't have to help me, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth looked him back in the eye.  "That's only part of the problem.  I'm not even sure right now if I should let you walk away, let alone help you."

Kuja's jaw hardened as his teeth gritted.  For a moment that pounded Sephiroth's heart, light burned from the creature's skin as if his body caged only light, but then it dimmed as he looked away to the closed curtains.  "I know...  I don't even deserve this chance, if it is one.  Perhaps it's my fate to merely suffer."  Kuja stood, and took a step towards him.  "I was placed in your hands.  Do what you will."

Straightening as well, his bangs fluttered over his face as he shook his head.  "I'm not the one who should decide your fate."

"Fate is cruel, is it not?"

When the moment lengthened and neither of them took control of the situation, Kuja rubbed his arms, pushing up at his sleeves, as if cold.  Sephiroth himself found the room overly hot in the heavy leather of his armor.

"Just..."  He detached his sword, leaning on a nearby wall.  "Just rest.  We'll figure this out later."

Kuja watched him carefully as Sephiroth took long strides to a nearby wooden chair and practically fell into it.  When the blatant stare continued, he said a bit more harshly, "Lay down."

"You didn't get any sleep last night either.  Perhaps you should rest."

"You...  What did you do all night?"

"I watched you.  You wouldn't take your eyes off of me.  I..."

Sephiroth felt unwelcome color come to his cheeks as he looked away.  "You were scared of me?"

"Maybe."

The swordsman huffed a laugh.  "You should have just closed the door then."

"Yes, I should have."

Smiling, unable to help himself, Sephiroth huffed again, looking at the creature standing next to the bed.  The dim light from the slightly separated curtains let him see enough.  His arms still crossed over his chest, the genome looked at him, his eyes carefully tracing over his features.  He could only hope that in the dimness, Kuja couldn't see the blush that grew stronger.

And why in the world was he blushing?  He was an experiment, a skilled lover, a soldier, a general, an experienced killer.  Blushing didn't seem to fit his job description.  Tell that to his body. 

Then he felt Kuja in his mind, a tentative stroke that only drew more heat.  "You don't want to be in my head."

The small frown forced him to remember that the creature was a killer as well.  "You have... such strong emotions.  But you hide them so well.  Genomes emotions are so limited, even Zidane's.  But humans..."  Kuja looked to his own feet, to the slippers that weren't his own, for several long, draining moments before he finally looked up again and stepped forward.  "Do you want to touch me?"

This change in direction was so sudden that it caught Sephiroth's breath in his throat.  To even suggest it...  The genome seemed to detest any and all of his touches.  To offer up himself...  "Why would you even want do that?"

"Emotions help me to enter trance.  Normally I would have to take a soul, but I think, perhaps, I could simply feed off your emotions."

Hearing the mechanics of Kuja's desire did little to cool Sephiroth's blood.  "And then what?"

"I can heal myself."

And then what?  The genome would leave him?  Wasn't he going to leave him anyway?  What did it matter if he left?  And if he did heal himself and leave, what if he ran amok in the world?  It would be totally his fault and all for a lustful moment in time.

Kuja stepped closer in his slippers until he was nearly touching his knees.  His eyes fluttered shut so that Sephiroth could feel no shame in watching him.  The genome drifted in his mind.  Then slowly, emotions dripped into his own, whether they were Kuja's or Sephiroth's being reflected back into his own mind, he didn't know and found it increasingly difficult to care either way.

"Stop this."  The words had as much conviction as he could muster, which wasn't much. 

The smaller person's eyes opened slowly, definite lust enraging them with heat.  His breaths came out as near pants.  "You feel so much."

Sephiroth shoved himself forward in the chair, grabbing the creature's cheeks in his large hands, drawing him down, and kissed him greedily.  His mouth tasted as air did, like nothing, but he was hot, a heat that seemed to match his own.  Kuja kissed him back, drowning him in their combined emotions.  For the first time, he reached out with his own mind, wanting more so badly, and felt him.

Kuja moaned into his mouth.  The sound was all it took to stand, breaking the kiss, and walk him backwards to the bed.  He picked him up with his hands under his arms and placed him on the bed, and then laid down to partially cover him.  Kuja touched his face so tenderly, looking up at him as his skin began to glow, making him more beautiful than the brightest star.

The general kissed him again, deeply, wanting to devour him, to give him anything he desired, especially if it was as simple as his mind and body, especially since Kuja seemed so willing to give him his own.

He rubbed his hardness at Kuja's leg, as his hand went under Kuja's shirt, caressing his heated skin, gripping it whenever the flows climaxed.  Their minds twisted together like a river's rapids, churning, bubbling, rocking, cresting, faster and faster, coming ever closer to the inevitable waterfall. 

Over his pants, the hand that gripped the head of his cock almost made him come instantly.  Then the strong doubled-up stroke did, as if he hadn't come in months.  He pulled away from Kuja's mouth so that he could moan loudly with each stream of cum that drenched the inside of his pants, as light nearly blinded him even behind closed eyes.

Slowly, unbearably slowly, his mind settled.  Kuja touched his cheek, lifting his head slightly to kiss him.  He kissed him back, not wanting to let him go.

//God.  Please don't go.//

//I don't want to go.//

Sephiroth pulled away slightly, laying down completely on his side, breathing in the scent of Kuja's hair as he nuzzled at his cheek, trying to even out his breath.

His voice unnatural to him, he whispered, "Is it always like that?"

"I...  I don't know.  It's the first time I've experienced it."

"You've never..."  He closed his eyes and kissed Kuja's cheek, lingering, lovingly.

Good god.  He could so easily become addicted to this.

"Perhaps we could do it again?"

Sephiroth chuckled, a bit flabbergasted.  "You didn't get enough?"

"No.  But I feel so much stronger and... and weaker at the same time."

"The weakness is probably mine."

Kuja turned his head to look at him and Sephiroth noticed his cheeks now had a healthy glow.  If he'd been beautiful before, now he was stunning, almost painfully so.

The genome hushed him and his thoughts, kissing him, as if he'd done it so many times before.  But from what he'd seen in Kuja's mind, he'd never kissed anyone before.  He found he could only be grateful that Kuja had chosen him as his first kiss, even if it had been for calculated reasons.


	3. My Undying Devotion

The human's hand shifted slightly on his chest underneath his shirt.  His warm breath caressed his ear.  There wasn't a moment Kuja could forget who was pressed so tightly against the side of his body.  But the more Sephiroth's mind drifted, dark and light in thought, the more Kuja's own mind withdrew, the more foreign the touch became.  Until finally, unwittingly, Sephiroth's touch was unwelcome. 

Kuja turned his head, looking to Sephiroth's face out of the corner of his eye, then edged away as the man frowned after him, his dozing disturbed.  When his feet touched the floor, he walked to the bathroom, relishing in each strong footstep. 

So much stronger.  So worth the sacrifice. 

On his own, he didn't know how long it would have taken to heal himself to that point, never having been that close to death before.  But the fact that he had to depend on others in such a way...  It was surely some sick, twisted joke bestowed on him by his dear creator. 

Or perhaps Garland just hadn't been good enough to create a perfect, independent being.  Garland had been just a creation himself, after all.

After being sure to close the door, unlike the night before, he looked at himself in the mirror.   The face that looked back was familiar now, not the mere shade of himself he's seen hours before in Sephiroth's mirror. 

Sephiroth...

Kuja knew he should have already left the man.  And since he hadn't, he knew he should have walked out of the door at that moment, now that he could walk with a certain amount of guarantee that he wasn't going to fall on his face in one moment to the next.  Staying with the human couldn't help him any longer.

Silver brows attempted to clench together in the mirror.  Then why wasn't he walking out the door? 

It couldn't have been for Sephiroth's sake.  Whatever the human thought he was feeling, considering the short time they knew one another, he'd get over his departure.  Besides, humans and genome weren't meant to grow close, grow old together.  Kuja physically couldn't grow old, after all.  The former matter he felt was obvious in its pointlessness.  He could never be what Sephiroth wanted, whispers of which he'd seen during their coupling. 

But... he had to admit, Sephiroth's thoughts were tempting, so unlike what Garland had intended him for.

Kuja caught the face in the mirror smiling and he turned away.  He had to be rid of this... situation before it drove him in the wrong direction.  He still had to find a way back home.  There had to be a way.  If there wasn't...  He couldn't even consider the possibility. 

His gaze landed on the tub and shower combination.  With a mental shrug, ready to clean himself of many things, he turned on the water with a bit of fiddling to figure out how it worked, slipped off his borrowed clothing, tested and adjusted the water until it bordered on overly hot, and stepped in.

The water felt wonderful, smooth, calming as it ran down his body, so unlike the treacherous waters of their coupling, so unlike his own mind.  He could have stayed there for hours. 

A knock echoed in the small bathroom, breaking his eyes open to stare at the door through the transparent curtain.

"Are...  Are you all right?"

Kuja blinked at the odd words.  No one but Zidane would have spoken similar ones to him.  But he also knew they were the kind of words humans often shared.  Just not with him.

"May I come in?"

The words made his breath quicken and his body tremble, because he could feel the meaning of them when Sephiroth touched his mind.

His voice cracked when the genome said, "I..." 

Send him away.  Do it.  It was the logical thing to do, after all.  He couldn't spend his whole life trying to please this man.

Could he?

What if he couldn't find his way home?  What if this was his best chance at the life he was trying to now have?  But... 

But the human had said he was only bringing him as far as he could.  And although Sephiroth hadn't said it out loud, not fully, the man wasn't willing to give up the life he had in Midgar for him.

During his inner turmoil, the door opened and he was forced to focus on the man who entered. He watched him through the curtain as Sephiroth watched him back, the door closing quietly behind him.  Already, he felt the man's heat in his mind.  Sephiroth almost seemed to glow with it.  Kuja tried to block Sephiroth from his mind, but the man seemed to have found some way past his blockades, whether intentionally or not.  Then, he realized to his dismay that perhaps that was because some part of him already craved this man who wasn't quite human, who could apparently now enter Kuja's mind at will.

This was so dangerous.

Kuja watched Sephiroth unbuckle, unbutton, and unsnap his uniform, until he was as naked as he was, but already he could see things that he'd never possess.  Kuja's eyes drawn to them, the general stepped into the shower, making him back up slightly so that the water ran into his eyes.  It was either that or be so close to the human that they wouldn't have much choice other than to touch.  He clenched them shut to save them from the sting.

When a hand feathered over his chest, his eyes flashed open and he tilted his head forward, rubbing at the water on his face.  Soon enough, when he could open his eyes without the sting of chemically treated water, he realized Sephiroth had crouched down, his extremities hanging freely between his legs, the ends of his long hair a damp, leeching pile on the tub's floor.

The hand caressed his torso, stomach, the sensitive divide before his leg.  Kuja's breaths already panting, he reached out with his mind, unable to help it, and trembled at the vision of himself he saw there.  And then their minds melded.  

Sephiroth fell to his knees and began to kiss and nip at his stomach and chest.  Kuja bit his bottom lip and moaned with every soft bite.

Was this what humans did with their spare time?  If so, he understood the attraction.  Still, was this really how they were going to spend their time, when he was supposedly running for his life?  He shrugged mentally, remembering that now, thanks to Sephiroth, he knew he could defend himself.

Strong, large hands gripped his buttocks, fingers spreading to make room for his tail, bringing his body against Sephiroth's as the human straightened his back, looking up at Kuja, his face shielded from water by Kuja's body.  Knowing he was being foolish, Kuja nonetheless raised his hands and cupped Sephiroth's cheeks, holding him there so that he could kiss him. 

Kissing him felt so good, his own mouth and tongue sensitive in ways he hadn't realized.  After all, he'd never used his mouth for more than breathing and talking, his breath required for speech so that he could beguile humans to do his bidding.  Now, he knew, his mouth could do so much more.

The creature bent, drawing his lips over Sephiroth's, bringing the human to groan weakly and grip Kuja's backside tighter, the swordsman's mind drowned in passion and devotion to him.  Maybe this human did realize what he was.  Or at least, now he did, after Kuja's confession.  Kuja smiled and deepened the kiss.  Humans were so soft.  So easy to manipulate.

Forgetting himself and who was in his head, Sephiroth suddenly pulled back at the thought, looking up at him, his brows drawn down and his jaw tight in his confusion.

"I..."  The anger boiling up in Sephiroth's face made him fearful that he'd just unwittingly done irreparable damage.  "It was a slip of my mind.  Just a thought."

Sephiroth withdrew his mind and his body, standing up uncomfortably in tight quarters, and leaving the shower.  Even with the water's heat, Kuja felt so cold.  He turned around and turned the water off as Sephiroth grabbed a towel and stalked out the door, wrapping it around his waist as he went.  Kuja drew back the curtain and stared after him as the cool draft iced his skin.  He stepped out, grabbing a towel, and slowly dried himself off.  When he was almost half done, Sephiroth suddenly stood in front of the open door.

"Excuse me, I need..."

Kuja looked down at the pile of armor next to his feet and picked it up, handing it to the general.

"No, give me the other ones.  These are dirty."

Kuja opened his mouth for a moment, realizing he'd be clothesless, but then dropped the clothing back down, and obediently gripped and handed the t-shirt and sweatpants to the man.

Sephiroth had no shame in quickly dressing in front of him as he watched.  And Kuja enjoyed the sight of him, enjoyed it while he could, since he didn't know when or if he'd ever see it again.

"Stay here."  Sephiroth mumbled as he dug in his coat for his wallet.  "There's a shop down the street that sells clothes.  I'll be right back."

Without waiting for a reply, Sephiroth left the room, closing the door solidly behind him, making the genome's body jerk.  Kuja didn't have much choice but to wait, so he wrapped the towel around him, and walked back out to sit on the hard wooden chair, the bed now uninviting with the memories it held.

Nearly three hours later, when Kuja started to go stir-crazy with his irrational thoughts, Sephiroth finally reentered.  Dressed in dark blue pants and another black t-shirt that said 'Loveless' down his chest, he walked to the bed a short distance away, gripping a couple of opaque bags in his left hand.  He laid them down under Kuja's watchful eye.  What the general pulled out of the bag made him realize that Sephiroth had seen far more in his head than Kuja wanted to admit to himself.  Overwhelmed, astonished, he stood and walked to stand next to him, touching the soft fabrics.

While certainly not the clothes he'd nearly died in, they were lovely and much of an improvement from Sephiroth's standard black.  He draped the towel on the bed and slipped on a pale violet translucent shirt with sleeves that draped but still held snugly to the shape of his torso.  The dark violet short-sleeved vest trimmed in gold fit just as tightly, as did the soft black leather pants that he curled up his tail to hide inside.  Finally, he slipped on gathered leather knee-length boots that secured with gold buckles.

From another bag, Sephiroth pulled out a brush, handing it to him.  Kuja took it and, as he quietly watched the human, brushed out his hair, wondering at him.

Sephiroth sat on the edge of the bed and studied him with a slow, long stroke over his body, from his feet up, muttering, "You're lucky the clothing designer has a fetish for challenges." 

"You had them made for me?"

"Yes," the swordsman stated just above a whisper, when he finally met Kuja's blatant stare.  Then Sephiroth dropped his gaze to his own hands that fought in his lap.  The man seemed genuinely disturbed, and in knowing why, Kuja's stomach clenched.

A weak murmur, the genome offered, "Please forgive me for before.  It was a slip of my mind."

Kuja wanted the human's forgiveness, but he also knew he couldn't be expected to control his every thought, especially if Sephiroth was going to invade his mind.  It was an impossible feat.  Nonetheless, he couldn't blame Sephiroth for his reaction. 

Before, lying on the bed with him, he'd seen traces of the general's life and it hadn't been pretty.  Those tiny windows gave him enough vision to realize that perhaps Sephiroth's misery, a life of being used and controlled, paralleled even his own.

Although he'd failed to calm Sephiroth with his words, Kuja couldn't help but smile at his downcast face.  Why was this man being so kind to him?  Guilt over the fact that he was going to abandon him soon?  Maybe.  Or perhaps he was still contemplating on turning him in.  Yes, there was a good chance that was the case.  Or maybe he really was just trying to please him.  His smile increased at the thought, but he didn't dare confirm it and risk angering Sephiroth further.

Sephiroth picked up the now empty bag, walked to the bathroom, saying, "I must get back.  I'm late as it is."  He came back out with a full bag and Kuja could only presume he'd picked up his uniform.  "Are you going to stay here?  I'll pay enough for a couple of days... Or however long you wish to stay."

The color left his cheeks.  "You're not coming back?"

"Kuja, I..."  He looked to his sword and then marched over and grabbed it.  "There's so much going on right now."  Slitted aquamarine eyes frowned at him as Kuja shook his head.  "And honestly, I'm not sure if I even want to.  I don't do relationships.  Ask Genesis.  Ask anyone.  I mean, this..." 

"I'm not requesting your undying devotion."

"Are you sure about that?"

Eyes narrowed with a small shake of his head before Kuja clenched his jaw and jerked his head to look out the cracked curtain in the distance.

"There's a bag in the other bag.  I got you some supplies and a couple other changes of clothes.  And there's some Gil in there too.  I'll pay for the rest of the week.  There's a restaurant across the street..."  Kuja turned his head and frowned at him again.  Sephiroth gripped the door knob.  "Never mind."

The shorter person took a step forward.  "Sephiroth..."

"Just..."  The human huffed a humorless laugh.  "Just try not to destroy anything."

Kuja's throat tightened, his teeth gritted, his hands clenched into fists, all in an effort to stop the fear that swarmed his mind.  When Sephiroth seemed unable to move, before Kuja could stop himself, out of his throat burst, "Go then!  Go back to your wretched black hole you call a life!"

Sephiroth stared at him, wide-eyed, his whole body tense.

"And for future reference, if you decide to once again delve into other people's heads: the free mind cannot be controlled any more than the heart can.  While thoughts -can- lead to actions, it is actions that make the person, that make a difference."

The taller person's dark stare pained Kuja.  Finally, thankfully, Sephiroth stalked out of the room, leaving him be.  

"Bastard," Kuja growled in the quiet room.

After only a minute of glaring at the door, he dumped everything in the second bag onto the bed, organized it, tossed what he wanted into the backpack, and then swung the backpack onto his shoulder.  As a genome, he didn't need much and only kept the brush and changes of clothes.  He left the room, talked quickly with the desk clerk on how to leave the city, which gave no positive results, then left the hotel, and stalked towards the outer wall of Midgar.

Some distance away from Wall Market, with fierce anger boiling in his body like none he'd ever felt before, he paused to wonder at it.  Why did it feel so strong?  It felt so much like Sephiroth's.  Was he still unknowingly feeling the human?   Had meshing with Sephiroth done something to him?  Cursed him?  Opened him?

A better question was:  Why was he so angry?

He didn't like the answer because it beat his heart with a severity that pained him.

"I cannot feel something for him," he breathed.  But he knew he did.  And for reasons similar to which made him care about Zidane.  Both men had shown him kindness he didn't deserve and he'd shown them only the barest hints of mercy.

But how could he be what they wanted him to be?  He couldn't just change because he wanted to, not that quickly and completely. 

Honestly, what did they expect him to do?  Lose himself?  Be the perfect little hospitable, cheerful, heartfelt genome that wasn't inside of him?

And really, even if he could have managed to please one of them, would they have even bothered to stay with him?  Zidane had his devotion to his friends, people who never would accept him.  Sephiroth had his devotion to his work, a place that apparently would see the genome dead.  Neither place held good prospects for him.

Kuja's gritted his teeth as the sensation of tears threatened.  Could he really cry?  No.  He wasn't human.

The genome stalked to the perimeter of the city, to the wall that locked the people of Midgar inside.  The only way they could legally leave was with permission.  He touched the wall, looking up at its great height.  The metal had long before been turned black with smog.  When he lifted his fingers, sure enough, the tips were black. 

He took several steps back and called on a power deep within himself.  Light and fire formed in front of him and, a second later, exploded through the deep wall, burrowing, blasting a hole more than large enough for him to walk through.  He took a couple of minutes though to let the metal cool back down to a few slow drips that he could easily avoid.

When he walked through, avoiding the metal carnage on the ground, the barren landscape almost astonished him more than Midgar itself.  What he saw wasn't natural.  Nothing was that desolate.  It was as if the city had sucked the land dry of all life.  His footsteps came quicker, happy to be rid of the place and all of the people in it.

Minutes later, it was then that he heard a noise emanate for the front pocket of his backpack.  When the beeping continued, he pulled the zipper, dug inside, and found a device that's front screen was lit up.  He blinked his confusion and played with its screen until it stopped making noises.  Then he heard an all too familiar voice.

"Kuja?"

He put the device next to his ear so he could hear him better.  "Sephiroth, is that you?"

"Yes.  I-I wanted to mention something.  You asked me last night if this planet is called Gaia.  I didn't really answer you because, well, at the time, I didn't understand why you were asking me and it seemed like an absurd question...  But now, considering everything you've told me, everything I've seen in your mind, it seems like too much of a coincidence...  But it still doesn't make any sense."  There was a pause that left Kuja frowning.  "This planet -is- called Gaia."


	4. The Vessel of Souls

Warning: Death/Murder, Violence, and Drugging of a Character

 

Unable to say any more and still have faith he could control his words, Sephiroth ended the call abruptly, deleted the call information, snapped the phone closed, and tossed it back to the trooper, muttering a thanks and a 'put it on mute next time.'  He hadn't wanted to use his own phone when he wasn't sure how interested ShinRa still was in Kuja, so he'd taken the opportunity when it'd come up.

The trooper ran off to get in line with the rest of his unit.  The general walked behind him, then along the line of people who stared ahead, too fearful to look him in the eye. 

Outside of bed, Sephiroth was known for his coldness, ferocity, and heartlessness.  While much of that outward appearance had to be true, or despite his skill, he would have been dead long before, they were also qualities he used to keep people at a distance.  And it worked. 

The only people he hadn't been able distance himself from were Genesis and Angeal because, well, they'd never once looked on him with fear despite what they'd probably heard about ShinRa's war hero.  Instead, they'd taken it upon themselves to drag him into their little two person clique.  He'd come somewhat willingly. 

But eventually, after so much loneliness, he'd become glad to have them.  Then, quickly after that, he'd realized that he loved them both.

Had he not known them though, he couldn't help but wonder what he would have done with Kuja the night before.  He was sure it would have gone so much differently and then he would have been able to go about this day without the creature invading his every thought, distracting him with efficiency and completeness that would get him killed on the battlefield.

Yes, this was all Angeal's and Genesis' fault.  Sephiroth huffed a laugh, which made the trooper he was walking in front of focus on him.  He glared and the teenager's eyes glazed. 

Well, them and Kuja's hungry mouth and body and mind.

Sephiroth growled lightly, the thoughts taking him to places he couldn't go at the moment, and moved to stand beside the group of young people.  Lazard began his customary speech that gave the new troopers their authority to control the people of Midgar and abroad.  Sephiroth looked among them.  So many new faces that he'd probably never see again outside of a mission or chance.  The winning of the Wutai war had spawned an overwhelming influx of people.  He looked forward to the day when these pep-rallies could become a monthly thing again.

His thoughts drifted back to Kuja.  Why again had he left like that, had he been so destroyed?  Well, he knew why, but he didn't want to remember since that inhumanness of Kuja drew him in as much as anything else.  Even the knowledge that he was being manipulated and used by the genome couldn't stop his desire.

And it didn't help that, after spending so much...wholesome time in Kuja's mind, he felt like he'd already known the creature for months, if not years, and certainly not for less than a day.

Then there was his beautiful, soft, curved body that glowed whenever Kuja was aroused.  He closed his eyes, remembering every inch of flesh.  Could a person ask for a better vision to be trapped in their head?

Sephiroth mentally shook his head, refocusing externally, again attempting to banish all those thoughts from his trained, hormone drenched mind.  He had to get himself together.  He couldn't let one night, one person rule his mind.  Perhaps he just needed a day or two to get his head straight... Or probably a lot more time...

With that goal in mind, instead of dwelling on the creature himself, he attempted to once again contemplate Kuja's sudden appearance.  Unfortunately, it was a puzzle with far too many pieces missing.  But he couldn't help but think that the things Kuja had told him seemed so similar to the stories he'd heard from Professor Gast as a child.  Stories about an ancient people who used to live on the planet and a destroyer who'd come to deceive and devour them.  But no, those couldn't have been the same events.

But then where else could Kuja have come from?  Was he from another planet, similarly named, that spoke their language?  Was he from another dimension?  Another time?

And how could he ever be expected to answer any of those questions, especially when Kuja was as lost in the matter as he was?

Distracted, he didn't hear Lazard walk up to him.  "I heard your friend finally left the building."

Sephiroth realized the troopers were already wandering away to their assignments.  "Yes, he finally got homesick, I guess."

"We've backtracked every time you used your keycard for weeks, but we still haven't been able to verify what you said earlier.  Could you be a little more specific on his date of arrival?"

"No, I'm sorry. I don't remember."

Lazard hummed his disapproval.  "Sephiroth, it's really not a great concern of mine, but Hojo has been quite adamant about us verifying this man's presence."

The name, Hojo, got a death-hold on his gut, but he tried to not let it show in his voice as he asked, "Hojo?  What does he have to do with anything?"

"I... I really don't know.  But anything you can tell us would be appreciated."

What in the world could that scientist possibly know about Kuja?  Well, outside of perhaps video footage that didn't tell much.  Sephiroth hadn't even seen nor been in the man's lab for a good couple of weeks.  The disorientating thoughts made the moment lengthen.

"Sephiroth..."  The man brushed blonde locks of hair behind an ear, his eyes looking to the distance, before Lazard focused on him completely.  "There's been some... speculation about your commitment to SOLDIER.  And, ah, well, I just wanted to let you know."

The general eyed the other man for a moment, but then nodded, grateful for the veiled warning.  "Be assured my loyalty has always been with ShinRa."

Lazard smiled slightly and nodded in return.  "Good.  Carry on then."

Sephiroth watched after the man as Lazard strolled off and into a building in the distance, his gloved hands gripped behind his back, his head downcast.  In watching him, although he didn't know the man well, he had the feeling he'd have an ally in him against ShinRa if it ever come down to it.

Eventually he found his way back to his apartment.  The emptiness of it...  It felt so cold. 

After laying down his sword, he walked to the curtains, pulling them open, letting the early evening light enter.  He blinked at the brightness momentarily, but then let his eyes focus on the city below him, wondering foolishly if Kuja was still waiting for him.  His long hair swayed with the shake of his head.  Why in the world would Kuja wait for him after their last moments together?

And how did Hojo know anything about Kuja?  He turned around, eyeing the space.  He'd had more than enough people up to his room.  This was the first time he'd ever been called out on it, even though there'd been others he hadn't checked in.  What made this time so different?

He didn't like the only answer he could think of:  that he was being tracked and watched far more than he'd previously realized.  And apparently, unsurprisingly Hojo had something to do with that.

In the next moment, he stalked out of his room and directly to Hojo's lab.  The scientist looked up at him when he entered, smiling, cold.  His assistants glanced at him too, but he ignored them.

"To what do I owe the honor, General?  It's not nearly the end of the month."

The words made his skin crawl.  At least once a month, and much more often than that in years past, Hojo had him in his lab running tests and evaluations on him like he was a voiceless lab rat.  He'd cried and screamed far more than one time at the hands of this man.

"I want to see the footage from last night."

"What are you talking about?"

"The footage of my apartment."

Hojo frowned, tapping the pen he was holding on a finger.  "Sephiroth, I fear you might be becoming paranoid," Hojo chided with a shake of his head.  "Why would we do such a thing?  Perhaps we do need to sit down and discuss things."

"Just..."  Every part of him tensing, the silver-haired man straightened to his full height, which was considerably taller than the raven-haired man's semi-hunched stance.   "Just show me the fucking video."

Hojo pursed his lips, as his eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses.  Then he started to walk away to a cabinet.  "Let me get you something.  To help you calm down."

"No.  No drugs.  I don't need them."

The words didn't stop the scientist from grabbing a small glass bottle and a short-needled syringe.  "Just enough to take the edge of.  You help no one by allowing yourself to become enraged.  You do remember what happens when you do?"

Sephiroth closed his eyes, trying to breathe deeply.  "I'm not like that anymore."

"I know.  Your training has done wonders for your self-control.  But everyone has their slips."  Hojo drew some of the clear fluid into the needle, far more than a normal person would have needed, but less than what Hojo had given him on other occasions.  Sephiroth watched him do it and then closed his eyes again, trying to will his mind away to a place where he could take control.  "There's no shame in it."

Hojo's steps drew closer and Sephiroth's eyes flashed back open to glare.  "I don't need it," he growled.

"How about this: you allow me to help you, and then we'll straighten out this misunderstanding."  Hojo gestured to a nearby chair.  "Here.  Sit down."

After being conditioned to obey such commands his whole life, he did sit as his teeth clenched, making his jaw ache.  In fact, his whole body ached.

"Relax," Hojo murmured as he clasped a cold hand onto his arm.

Sephiroth jerked his head away so he wouldn't have to see, and the needle pressed into his neck.  He squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing, not from pain, but from the fact that he was letting it happen.  Again.

When the needle pulled away, with his raging heart, almost immediately the world started spinning.

 Hojo patted his shoulder.  "There you go.  All done."

The words blurred a bit into one another.  By the end, they almost sounded distant.  In fact, when Sephiroth tried to open his eyes, the whole world seemed distant, tiny, like he'd grown twenty feet taller.  He gripped locks of hair in his hand, trying to orientate himself, but couldn't stop the spinning. 

Something wasn't right.

"What-what was that?"

"Oh, you've had it on many occasions.  You just don't remember.  It's something I developed many years ago and found it to be a fantastic tool in gaining compliance.  Unfortunately it does have some nasty side effects."

The dizziness suddenly unbearable, Sephiroth buckled over in the chair, dry heaving.  And that was all he knew for a couple of debilitating minutes.

After he'd gained some control over himself, Hojo ordered, his voice almost monotone, "Now, tell me about your friend from last night."

Kuja...  He heard the word in his mind, but also felt his lips moving.  Had he heard his own voice?  He couldn't be sure.

Sephiroth?

The name echoed in his mind.  Had Hojo said it?  It hadn't sounded like his voice.  It had sounded like the way Kuja said it.

Sephiroth...

"Sephiroth, tell me how Kuja entered your room."

I don't know.  I don't know.  Why won't anyone believe me?

"I believe you, Sephiroth."

I believe you.  I believe you.  Sephiroth.  I believed you.

"Now, where has Kuja gone?"

Kuja left me...  No, I left Kuja.

"Yes, where?"

A hotel, in Wall Market.  But not the Honey Bee Inn.  He would have fit in there too well.

"I see..."  Echoes bounced as the man walked away. 

Sephiroth's shoulders shaking with a fit of laughter at the idea of Kuja fitting in, he couldn't keep his eyes steady enough to watch Hojo's motion as it eroded on his ears. 

"Tseng, could you please send a couple of your men to the hotel in Wall Market?  ...No, not the Honey Bee Inn...  The one I need apprehended is there....  Thank you."

Still giggling, Sephiroth looked up as the man walked up to him, looking down at him.  The frown on his ugly face made him laugh harder.

God, you're so fucking ugly.

"Thank you.  Now, I know that Kuja can emit some kind of aura.  Explain this to me."

He's so beautiful, isn't he?  He's like a staaaaaar.

"Yes, he's lovely.  Tell me why he shines."

Sephiroth frowned, bringing renewed dizziness, and then squeezed his eyes shut again when he heaved.

"He shines because..."

He shines because he's hurt.

"And the shining, it what?"

It makes him better.

"Amazing."

Yes, he is...  He's so amazing.

And then the world exploded with light and sound.  It was painful stuff, making him squeeze his eyes shut and making his body jerk.  Finally, his system trying in vain to rid itself of the poison invading it, his stomach brought up the lunch he'd eaten an hour before.  He fell to his hands and knees, retching, foul smelling goo and liquid wetting his skin and hair.  Yelling.  Screaming.  All around him.  God, it was so unbelievably loud, and he couldn't stop his stomach's heaving.  Then the chaos swam away.  He collapsed into the mess he'd made, losing consciousness in one heart beat to the next.

 

 

 

A silent, helpless witness to nearly the whole event as he'd flown back to Midgar with black rage consuming him, Kuja laid his crimson and white hands on the wall, hearing Sephiroth's voice inside his mind, as well as the voice of the one questioning him.   Flares gushed from the vessel of his body, slamming into the side of the structure, exploding it, disintegrating it.

The dust settled as his feet landed.  Several humans cowered, people who'd done nothing to help the man collapsing on the floor. 

Only a few feet from Sephiroth laid Hojo holding a deep gash in his forehead.  Torn by Sephiroth's memories, Kuja would have recognized Hojo even before the scientist had decided to fuck with the man who could have been his lover.  He stalked straight up to Hojo, kneeling down, grabbing him by the neck and squeezing until his eyes bulged.  The raven-haired man clawed at his arm and fingers but couldn't budge them in the least.

"You want to know what I am?  I'll show you," Kuja whispered for his ears only.  He placed an almost gentle hand on Hojo's chest, feeling his soul attempting to flee from him.  He smiled.  "See, your soul knows who I am." 

Kuja called light to his fingertips, boiling the flesh underneath.  Hojo screamed.  His whole body took to trembling as the light entered his brain.  Seconds later, he was reduced to mere twitches.  Kuja shook his head, disgusted.  "Die already, would you?  Your life isn't that precious."

Finally, the human's soul passed, leaving its body behind.  Grimly, Kuja took it inside of himself, detesting the feelings it brought out in him, but determined to not allow the man to simply melt away into the planet and forget.  He would live with the suffering for that pleasure.

Then, in the soul's fleeting memories, he saw something that made him jerk to stand upright, frowning down at Hojo.  He turned his head to look at Sephiroth who lay on his chest, his head turned to the side.  The man didn't look nearly as horrible as Kuja felt inside. 

The people in the background whimpered and cried weakly, and he turned his head to glare at them.  "Get out."

All four of them scrambled to their feet and ran out the door.  Kuja frowned after them.  Was he really supposed to care for people cradling such weakness?  He looked back down to Hojo and then Sephiroth and realized he was being rather biased in who he considered weak and undeserving.

'Let them run,' he told himself.  It wasn't as if the cowards could have done something to stop him anyway, although they could have stopped Hojo.

Kuja grabbed a nearby lab coat, rolled Sephiroth over and shifted him away from the stinking mess on the floor, and wrapped him.  Then he lifted him and flew out the hole in the wall he'd created, descending quickly to the city below.

He knew he couldn't go to the hotel anymore.  ShinRa's people may have still have been heading there to apprehend him. Besides, they were both a sight, sure to draw attention.

Instead, spying it through the cracks between the plates, he entered another part of the slums that had a small waterfall and a stream flowing through.  For the first time, he saw plant-life in Midgar in a garden next to the large house.  Considering the sporadic light, it was an amazing sight and he relished it.

Near the waterfall's bottom, booted feet landed on a spot where he could walk Sephiroth into the water and back, although the dry patch was cramped in size.  He unwrapped his charge carefully, tossing the coat to the side, and walked him into the chilled water where he could sit down and hold him to clean him off. 

By the time he caressed his face, wiping it clean, his own mind settled by the sound and flow of the water, Kuja had lost his trance state.  Without it, Sephiroth managed to become considerably heavy.  He slipped out from underneath him and pulled him until his body rested on the stone shoreline.  He pulled off his boots, letting the water drain out.  He did the same for Sephiroth and put one under his head.

Together they laid there as the fleeting sun dried their clothes, hair, and skin.  He pressed his body against his side, treasuring the feel of him before the storm that was sure to come when Sephiroth woke up. 

Carefully, he touched the human's mind, but there were no dreams.  Then, with his hand, he felt for what was wrong.   Sephiroth's body hummed with life, but something held him back.  Even though he didn't know the cause of his unconsciousness, he built a warmth inside of himself and transferred it to him, closing his own eyes, pressing his lips against the taller person's cheek.

Slowly but surely, the Sephiroth stirred, making Kuja exhale against his cheek in relief.  Aquamarine eyes opened, slits dilating in an attempt to take in their surroundings.  Then Sephiroth tried to sit up, but probably quickly realized there was a body restraining him. He turned his head, trying to look at him with the odd angle.

"What are you...  Where are we?"

"In the slums."

"I-I don't understand.  What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No..."  He gripped his limp, damp hair.  "I remember going to Hojo's office because...."  He sat up unsteadily, Kuja following suit.  The swordsman looked around again, probably trying to figure out where they were, before finally settling his gaze on Kuja.  "Because I think he may have videoed us in my apartment."

"Videoed?"

"Ah...  A movie?"

Kuja shook his head.

"Umm...  It's a way of capturing motion, so you can show it on something like a computer.  Ah, a camera takes many photographs, or, you know, images, and when you put them together in order, it creates the illusion of movement."

"Oh...  I think I understand..."  He paled at the idea.  "So they saw me..."

"I think so.  I was trying to find out either way, but then..."  Sephiroth shook his head.

"The man named Hojo...  He..."  Kuja stood and took a step away, his arms crossed over his chest, his back to the human, as he realized he didn't have a clue how Sephiroth was going to react to what he'd done.  Even though he knew Sephiroth hated Hojo, could see it in all of the swordsman's memories, that didn't mean Sephiroth was going to react calmly and appreciate him, if he was any judge of human emotion.  He turned slightly to look back at the taller person.  "I have to tell you something."

Sephiroth already looked uneasy.  "What?"

"I'm sorry.  He was hurting you.  I couldn't let him do it."

"What are you saying?  What did you do?"

"I killed him, but I didn't realize who he was until...  You never said he was your father."

"What-what are you talking about?  He's not my father.  I don't know who my father is."

Kuja opened his mouth but lost his words.  Sephiroth stood up, his height overwhelming considering they didn't have much space to separate.  With fear creeping in that he might have to defend himself against this man, Kuja realized he'd managed to trap himself, trap both of them.  Well, save for jumping in the water and swimming away.

Kuja finally managed to continue with, "His thoughts... He thought of you as his son with his wife Lucrecia."

"Lucrecia?  My mother's name is Jenova.  You don't know what you're talking about."

The shorter person looked away, holding himself tighter, trying to find warmth that wasn't there.  Quietly, knowing the truth inside of himself, he muttered, "Souls don't lie."

"What do you mean?"

"Genomes are created to be a vessel for souls.  Garland gave me one when he created me, but I can also take them inside of myself."

"You're talking about how you can trance."

"That...  And it's just who I am, a vessel for souls."

"But aren't we all?"

Kuja frowned at the words, thinking on it.  "I suppose so."

"So...  You're trying to tell me that you killed Hojo and took his soul?"

"Yes."

Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest, huffing a laugh that sounded pained.  And then another one as he shook his head, looking around with his eyes, probably looking for a way out.

"It was my doing alone.  You can still go back to them."

"I...  I told you to not..."

"I couldn't let him hurt you," Kuja repeated, the conviction clear in his voice.

Sephiroth eyed him.  "Why...  Why would you even care?  What could it possibly matter to you whether I'm dead or alive?"

The words hurt because Kuja could see that Sephiroth truly didn't believe he could care.  A day before, he may not have believed it either, but now...  Everything felt so different inside of himself, so much like what he felt inside of Sephiroth.  But he didn't know how to explain his emotions.

Instead of trying to explain it, Kuja simply said, "When I heard you call out my name, I came to you."

"I don't remember that."

"It doesn't change the fact that it's true."  Kuja bit his lip for a moment, then offered, "Touch my mind."

Sephiroth shook his head, the tangled knots of his hair minimizing any extra movement.  The man needed a good brushing.  "I don't think I want to."

The genome pressed his lips together as he once again felt the urge to cry but, of course, no tears came out.  Nonetheless, Sephiroth seemed to notice the misery in his face as he brought up his hands to touch his cheeks. The genome's face crinkled up and all that came out was a choked sob. He felt like he was creeping into madness once again, but a different kind.

Sephiroth pressed his lips against his, hushing him.   Then the swordsman was kissing him, caressing him with his mind as much as with his mouth.  It broke Kuja and he clung to the taller person, grabbing at his back, trying to pull him closer to feel his heat.  He could feel all of Sephiroth's desire pouring into him and he drowned in it.  What a beautiful death it was. 

When Sephiroth pulled away to look at him minutes later, too soon, Kuja still could barely find a thought in his own head.

"I should have killed that man myself a long time ago, but..."  A thumb caressed Kuja's cheek.  "But I never had the strength to do it.  Even if he was my father, it doesn't matter.  He never was one to me.  In fact, he was the complete opposite.  I was nothing to him.  I feel nothing for him.  But I still wish you hadn't done it.  They'll figure out it was you, if they haven't already, and you won't be safe."

"I owe nothing to them and they can't hurt me."

Sephiroth smiled, the first true smile he'd ever given him.  "Believe me, they'll find a way.  They have people trained to do just that.  You need to leave."  Sephiroth dropped his hands to Kuja's shoulders and straightened to look around, probably reminding him of their predicament.  "How did you get us here?"

"I flew."

Frowning, obviously disbelieving, the general said, "Seriously?"

"Yes.  When I'm in full trance, my powers are vastly increased."

Sephiroth pursed his lips for a second but then smiled.  "You'll have to teach me how to do it."

Basking in Sephiroth's acceptance, Kuja grinned.  "It would be my pleasure."

The swordsman's smile grew, then he looked to the scenery.  "As for now..."

Kuja's grin transformed into a weak smile as he closed his eyes.  This time, the emotions within him were so easy to find and so strong.  Almost instantly, light burned from his body and Sephiroth let go of his shoulders.  When he opened his eyes, Sephiroth looked beyond shocked and he almost had to laugh at the expression. 

He knew what the general saw:  his face had gone pale white, while his hair had turned crimson red.  Under his clothing, his body was much the same, patched of red and white.

Power crested within him, demanding to be free.  Instead, Kuja picked up their boots, handing Sephiroth's to him, embraced the human and carried him to the nearby garden, then let him go and allowed himself to shift back into his less obvious form.  When Sephiroth only started at him with a certain degree of wonder, Kuja asked softly, "Are you going back?"

Sephiroth's expression quickly hardened and he rubbed an almost dry arm, while his other hand fisted.  "I...  I don't know.  Even if I was going to leave, there are things I'd have to take care of first."

The light within Kuja darkened with the words. 

In the next moment, the man's large hand gripped the back of his neck.  "Give me a day.  Tomorrow evening, I'll meet you here."

Kuja blinked at the words, unsure of whether or not to believe them.  "You swear it?"

"Yes." 

"If I don't see you then, I'm coming to find you."

"Then I'd better be here."

The genome smiled.  "Yes, you better."

When Sephiroth returned the smile, the light within Kuja burned.


	5. Jumping Off of Towers

Stalking along the upper plate's sidewalks, heading towards the ShinRa building in the distance, Sephiroth was lost in his thoughts and plans, both rational and irrational ones.  So many irrational ones.  Somehow though the promise in Kuja's smile kept them flowing.

It took a while but, after bumping more and more shoulders, sidestepping people until the sidewalk was more like a maze, eventually the SOLDIER couldn't help but notice the number of people standing about with their upturned, gossiping heads.  When he looked up himself, he nearly came to a standstill, meshing with the gathering crowd.  For a moment, he couldn't breathe.

The outside wall of Hojo's lab was a light-draining open wound in the darkened evening light.  Even from that distance, traces of motion skittered about, people coping with the recent disaster. 

Knowing what he knew, Sephiroth forced himself to acknowledge that the damage had a good chance of being Kuja's doing, or at least partially.  Before, he'd assumed Kuja had gone about 'rescuing' him in a much stealthier fashion.  Sephiroth definitely hadn't expected a full-out structure-destroying assault that had drawn the attention of far too many people.

Questions from those around him rasped against his ears as he watched:  What happened?  Did you see the explosion?  Did you hear if anyone died?  Did you see them falling?

Falling?  Assuming Kuja hadn't tossed anyone out to their deaths, he had to assume they were talking about Kuja and himself. 

He glanced around, taking in the crowd.  Curiosity, excitement, fear boiled the smoggy air.  Sephiroth's liberation had managed to become something ShinRa couldn't will away with just a curt public statement, their usual tactic in dealing with embarrassing, unsavory situations that gained the public's attention.

Taller than most, the general came to a complete standstill when he looked towards the front of the ShinRa building still far in the distance and noticed the growing military presence attempting to control the crowd.  Neither surprised him.  After all, it wasn't often that someone actually succeeded in directly attacking ShinRa tower, and never in a way that was so easily visible to the public.

It was then that someone noticed him and took advantage of his presence.  "General, do you know what happened?"

After a blink at the woman who he didn't know, but who clearly knew who he was, he forced his gaping mouth closed with a shake of his head.  His words honest because he truly didn't know, not completely anyway, he mumbled more to himself, looking back up, "I have no clue."

What in the world was he doing?  What was he walking into?  He had to think rationally about this and prepare mentally, if not physically.  He should have questioned Kuja more thoroughly on what had happened. 

Above, sparks flew like fireworks from an electrical cable caught in the breeze, gaining a few gasps from the crowd. 

That Kuja had even dared...  The boldness, recklessness of the creature astounded him to no end.  There was no way the genome could show himself in this city again without the risk of arrest.  But then again, could ShinRa even get Kuja to go with them willingly, without a fight?  Knowing firsthand only hints of Kuja's power and of the creature's lack of empathy for humanity, he was suddenly certain it would be a bloodbath. 

He had to get Kuja out of Midgar.  Then again, if their escape had been seen by inside and outside bystanders and video cameras, surely ShinRa was already headed to the waterfall in the slums.  He couldn't risk the time it would take to locate Kuja and get him out of the city.  Instead, he closed his eyes and searched for the genome with his mind, calling out his name.

//What's wrong?//

Was the fear in his head that evident?  Gritting his teeth, he tried to keep it simple, quick with:  //You need to leave Midgar.  I'll catch up with you.//  Sephiroth could feel Kuja's blackening emotions and found himself recoiling from them before he could control himself.  //I swear I'll meet you later.  Please, just go.  Now.  And get rid of the phone, the thing I talked to you on earlier.//

//I left it outside of Midgar with the bag.// 

//Don't go back to it then.//

After a moment, Kuja said, //You should come with me.//

//I can't leave yet.  I don't even have my sword.  I'll be quick.//

There was even an even longer pause which grew an urge to delve further into the genome's head to see what he was thinking.  After all, he could already feel genome traipsing around in his own.  Finally, perhaps after seeing enough, Kuja said a simple, //Okay,// and left his mind.

After the genome left his mind, doubts drifted back into his head as he restarted his forward steps.  How could he simply walk in and out of the ShinRa building without being confronted?  How could he even leave the city if he didn't go inside to answer to the certain inquisition?  Well, he supposed with a half-laugh, he could call on his flying genome to rescue him again.

Then the accompanying smirk fell off his face as his thoughts continued.  Should he even leave?  Why was he even doing this?  Why risk everything, any hope of a home and civilization, for a creature who could turn on him in a heartbeat and leave him with nothing?

Sephiroth swallowed with a shake of his head.  How in god's name had his life changed so much in one day to the next after a lifetime of painful predictability?

When he reached the blockade, the troopers immediately let him through.  He couldn't help but feel naked without Masamune amongst so many people blossoming with the testosterone-driven urge to fight something, anything.  Things could erupt quickly if ShinRa didn't take a step to quell everyone.  Even as he thought it, walking through the front door, a large screen on a wall blared Lazard's face and his short statement to the public followed by the newscaster's interpretation of it.  He'd only heard a few of those words before the elevator closed.

Thankfully, people ignored him except for a quick glance, heading off to wherever they were ordered to be.  Most probably had no clue he'd been involved in it.  ShinRa's lack of information sharing in an effort to save face was going to be their downfall one day, he was sure.

It wasn't until he was in his room, in a towel and still dripping slightly from a quick shower, his belly partially filled with a snack, his fingers entering commands into his computer, trying to gain access to videos he was still sure Hojo had, that a knock came at his door.  He called up the security camera for his front door on the computer and gritted his teeth at the suited Turk, Tseng himself, who was talking on his phone, who had a trooper standing behind him.  If he came, the situation wasn't good since there was little Sephiroth could do to sidestep him.  But at least he hadn't come with a dozen troopers to escort him to the bowels of the facility.  Not that the meat shields would have truly done anything outside of acting as a deterrent to facing murder charges.  It meant Tseng merely wanted to talk.

Sephiroth slipped on a pair of leather pants, walked to the door, and opened it, offering the man a small civilized smile to show he wasn't a danger.  "Yes?"

Tseng's face remained cold, calculated.  "May I come in?"

"Of course."

Tseng walked inside.  The trooper stayed outside, however, standing stiffly by one side of the door.  Sephiroth closed the door soundly and offered the Turk a seat on the couch while he took one on the slightly cushioned metal-framed chair next to it. 

Outside of his bed, none of his furniture was all that comfortable since he didn't spend much time on it.  Why waste money on something he wouldn't use?  The majority of his money laid in several accounts across the world, some of which he hoped he'd managed to keep from ShinRa in case it ever came down to his departure from SOLDIER, although he hadn't expected his departure to come about like this.

The raven-haired man rested his hands on his knees, his back as stiff as ever.  "I see you made it back safely to headquarters after the incident.  You weren't injured?"

"No, I'm fine."

"And the person who killed Hojo, who abducted you?  Do you know their whereabouts?"

"No, I don't."

A frown barely reached Tseng's eyebrows.  "Is it the same man who stayed in your room these past... weeks?"  When Sephiroth didn't bother hiding his frown, both at the pointed pause and the fact that they'd already made the connection, Tseng added, "While their appearances do differ, there are enough similarities to believe they are the same person.  Our facial recognition software confirms this observation."

"What do you want me to say?"

Tseng's face cracked a slight one-sided smile.  "The truth, perhaps."

"Whatever happened, I wasn't conscious when it did.  When I came around, I was alone."  Tseng looked to his own hands on his knees, and Sephiroth added, "I know you've been ordered differently, but perhaps it's better to just let him go, for everyone's sake."

"After what he's done, you know we can't."  His dark eyes raised to meet his.  "You don't act all that surprised that he killed Hojo, so I'll assume you already know about his murder.  However, we haven't released that information."

"I didn't know, but someone killing him doesn't surprise me.  It was bound to happen eventually, considering."

The Turk nodded.  "Well, thank you for your time, General.  I'm going to have to ask that you remain in your room until you're told otherwise.  We've deactivated your keycard, so please don't attempt to leave this floor, or your room for that matter since you won't be able to reenter.  We'll attempt to clear this matter up as quickly as possible.  Your cooperation is appreciated."

"I'm under arrest then?  I haven't done anything."

"You've violated several policies, including co-habitation without approval and attempting to hack into classified files.  Together, those two actions alone are enough to consider several charges, some far worse than others."  Tseng stood up, looking down on him with the barest hints of an expression that Sephiroth couldn't define.  "Perhaps, when you... remember more, your access will be returned.  In the meantime, a trooper will be stationed outside of your door in case you need anything."

The Turk nodded to the general and let himself out.  Sephiroth watched after him, seeing the said trooper still standing outside of the door.  When the door closed, he said a simple, "Fuck me."

By coming back up to his room, he'd done them a great favor and effectively arrested himself for them.

Sephiroth looked towards the window, wondering where Kuja was, if he'd made it out of the city safely.  He didn't dare call upon him and risk him coming back to 'rescue' him yet again. 

Furthermore, Tseng obviously knew much more than he was telling.  If there was footage of Kuja in his room and Tseng had watched it...  Sephiroth looked around his apartment.  Well, that also meant he was being watched at that moment.

Sitting there, dwelling on everything, he realized he'd come to the point where he had to make a decision:  Either he stayed loyal with ShinRa and let them track down Kuja while he followed their orders.  If he wanted their trust again, he'd also have to throw in the truth about what had happened and who and what the genome was.  Or he could leave and have ShinRa forever at his back.

The SOLDIER could only sit still for so long.  Eventually he took to pacing his room, so unsure, indecisive.  It was so unlike him.  But then again, he'd never been faced with a choice like it. 

The only one that even compared was his commanding role in the Wutai war, and in the end, he'd followed orders like a good soldier despite the screams and mounting deaths.  Those people had just wanted the freedom he himself wanted and they'd died for it. 

Him on the other hand...  He instead destroyed others' chances at freedom, as well as his own.

Bare feet took him to the large windows.  He pulled the curtains to the side and looked out over Midgar, taking in the same view Kuja had the night before.  The whole of the city had a sickening green glow from the smog of the reactors.  How could the people down there even stand it?  The higher-ups in the ShinRa tower, him included, didn't have to be bothered with the slow torment unless they went down to their level. 

Beyond the city, there was only darkness, as if nothing was there.  He knew there was something out there though, a whole world. 

And out there was a creature who'd destroyed one world and tried to destroy another.  What would it take to unleash Kuja on this one?  Hopefully not ShinRa's army because that was what was headed his way.

This would all end so badly, he could feel it.  Any way it went down, something would happen, and that was partially his own fault.  He'd told Kuja to wait for him, after all.  He'd given the creature hope.

Sephiroth shook his head.  Why would Kuja even want to wait on him?  The genome wasn't human.  They had no connection to one another, except through their minds.  And their bodies.  The memories of their flooding emotions, even if hormonally driven, the feel of Kuja's skin brought heat through him.  And their minds had meshed so perfectly.  It was like they had been one.  Well, even if some thoughts hadn't meshed quite so perfectly.

Blowing out of heavy huff of air, he once again looked to the darkness, as if he could catch some glimpse of Kuja out there glowing like a star.

How could he ever make everything work?  How could he calm everyone down?  Even as he asked the questions, he knew he couldn't.  For all of his power, he lacked the power of persuasion over others.  He'd just have to accept the good with the bad, whatever decision he made.

He only gave one more thought to staying with ShinRa.  The clenching of his gut, of his whole body made his decision for him.  He couldn't do this anymore.  He didn't want to.  He refused to since there was a chance at something better waiting for him.  He could only consider himself lucky to have it.

The man stalked away from the window, donned the rest of his uniform, grabbed Masamune and a few artifacts from his life that held memories for him, stuffing them in his uniform pocket, opened the door, and glared down at the trooper who stood to attention, right after backing up a step from a man who was much taller than himself.

Wasting no time, he growled, "I'm assuming you have clearance to this floor?"

"Yes, sir," a soft but nonetheless masculine voice declared right back.

"Give me your keycard."

There was a pause as the trooper seemed to consider his options and his orders.  Sephiroth couldn't see the face that hid underneath the helmet, but could imagine it trying to figure out an option that wouldn't get him reprimanded, or in worst case scenario, killed. 

Finally, he simply said, "No, Sir!"

The response surprised Sephiroth underneath his desire to get the hell out of there.  Most people, especially a trooper, would have obliged him.  Maybe the trooper's orders had come from Lazard or someone higher.  Any order from a Turk would have been superseded by the general's own. 

Either way, he didn't have time for this.  He straightened to his full height, his voice low and dangerous as he said, "No?"

"My orders are to assist you, but also to be sure you remain in your apartment."

"Did they tell you to not give me your keycard?"

The man paused, flexing his grip on his rifle that pointed to the ceiling.  "Not in so many words, no."

"Then give it to me."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do that."

Sephiroth eyed the man, then his chest, seeing the keycard, which also doubled as his badge, attached to his uniform.  The trooper tilted his head in the direction, following his line of sight.  One hand released the rifle and clamped over it.  The general's eyes narrowed.  He didn't want to hurt the other person, but it was quickly coming to that.

"What is your name, trooper?"

"Cloud Strife, sir."

"You do know who I am?"

"Yes, of course I do, sir."

"Then you know you're required to follow my orders."

"My orders come from the president, sir.   According to the chain of command, I-"

"I know the chain of command."  He didn't have time for this.  In one moment to the next, he gripped Cloud's hand in one hand and ripped the keycard off of the man's uniform with the other and stalked to the elevator.

The trooper was right behind him, running to keep up with his long strides.  "Sir, you must give that back to me!  My orders are-"

"I know what your orders are."  His fist slammed on the down button.  "If you would like me to punch you in the face, act like it was a struggle or something, I'll be more than happy to do it.  Otherwise, stand back."

Then the trooper actually had the balls to point his rifle right at his chest.  Sephiroth looked down at it and then to the trooper.  The man's heavy breaths could be heard even through the helmet.  "You must remain on this floor."

"If you're going to point that thing at me, then you'd better be prepared to use it."

"I am!"

Sephiroth couldn't help his laugh.  Were all troopers so brainless these days?  Well, either that, or this man took his orders way too seriously.  Whatever the reason, the shorter man had no real fear of death, not enough of one to stop him from being a pain in the ass, anyway. 

The elevator dinged.  Sephiroth stepped into the elevator.

"Sir!"

Sephiroth slid in the keycard and hit the button for the lowest floor the elevator would take him.  As the doors closed, Sephiroth acknowledging the other man's resolve didn't run as far as killing him, Cloud suddenly slid in sideways before the doors could close on him and stood next to him.  Sephiroth glared down as the trooper looked up at him, his rifle retaking its aim.  The shorter man was like a damn leech.

When the door opened, the general strode out of the elevator, with the trooper in tow, waited in front of the next elevator, and then entered it, the trooper quickly becoming his shadow.  He was about to shove him right back out when he heard pounding feet coming right towards them.  Sephiroth gritted his teeth, slamming on the close door button.  The doors closed but the elevator wouldn't respond further.  He heard yelling outside, his name muffled in the mix. He hit the stop button.

Trapped again.  "Damn it." 

"Just let them take you into custody, sir."  The man's voice was strangely quiet.

Sephiroth looked down at him, his brows clenching together.  "I can't."

The silver-haired man detached his sword.  Cloud stepped back.  With three swipes, Sephiroth cut a section of the elevator floor away and then jumped down the hole.   A few floors down, he managed to grab onto the rope, skidding to a halt that heated up his glove until it burned.  Then he let go again and let himself fall down the remaining floors, landing softly, gracefully.  Above him, clunks and grunts told him that the trooper was actually following him in his own ungraceful way.  Awestruck, Sephiroth stared up at him for several seconds he needed for other things, but couldn't help himself.  When Cloud only had a couple of floors left, he let go and let himself drop with a loud thud.  The momentum landed him on his backside.  A loud grunt escaped him.

Sephiroth repalmed his sword as the trooper unsteadily stood up.  "Strife, let me give you a bit of advice.  No order is worth this.  Don't let ShinRa take your life from you."

Then, on the side opposite of the door, he swiped out, cutting metal to shreds.  He kicked out.  The metal slammed onto the ground outside in the dark of night.  He wasted no time in jumping out and darting to an open section between the plates.  To his amazement, he actually heard booted feet behind him. 

Then he jumped, grabbing at scaffolding to break his fall a considerable distance away.  He looked back, just because he had to see.  He couldn't stop his mouth from dropping open when the trooper, his rifle strapped across his back, actually jumped after him.  The man was a fucking lunatic!  But Sephiroth knew right away that there was no way the trooper could jump as far as he could.  Cloud called out when that fact probably became obvious to the trooper.

Sephiroth shoved himself away from the metal frame and grabbed onto the trooper who grunted at the impact.  They both fell.  There was nothing left to grab.  Sephiroth braced himself for impact.  He could have made the jump by himself with reasonable safety, but with the trooper's jumble of limbs, the landing was sure to be considerably more complicated. 

Cloud flailing, they landed hard against the roof of a home, denting the metal.  Sephiroth's arm outstretched to keep Masamune away from them both, the general took the brunt of it with Cloud landing on top of him.  His head collided with the metal roof, the thud bringing a tumble of white light to destroy his vision.  He laid there, lost in the debilitating pain as Cloud slowly shifted off of him, his hand pushing painfully into Sephiroth's stomach on the way.  Had he been able to, Sephiroth would have killed the trooper at that point.

Eventaully, slowly, Sephiroth rolled to his side, assessing his injuries.  Luckily, he didn't notice any overly intense pain that would have indicated broken bones.  But that didn't mean there wasn't any hairline fractures.  But those would heal quickly enough if there were.  Sprains he wouldn't know about until he tried to stand.

A hand touched his shoulder.  He jerked his body to relieve himself of the touch.  "General, are-are you all right?"

Sephiroth gritted his teeth, forcing himself to sit up, and glared at the man whose helmet had come off at some point.  Blonde spikes of hair spread in all directions, partially covering sky blue eyes that looked at him with wide-eyed concern. 

"What kind of crazy fool jumps off a tower like that?"

"Well, you did."

"Yes, and I'm a SOLDIER," Sephiroth growled as he struggled to his feet.

"Well, I'm going to be."

"But you're not yet!"

The words deflated Cloud.  "No, I'm not."

"Strife, I'm only going to say this one time:  Stop following me or your orders are going to be the last of your concerns."  He took a step and hissed as pain from his ankle traveled all the way up his leg.  "Fuck!  Scratch that.  If you don't get away from me right now, I'm going to kill you."

To his credit, Cloud stepped back a step, but then stopped.  Sephiroth could see the concern making his eyes wide and his breaths heavy, but those things wouldn't help the general. 

With no time to stop and heal himself, needing the strength the healing would steal away from him, Sephiroth knew had to get moving before the pain became unbearable.  He limped slightly over to the edge, looked down the two story drop, gritted his teeth, and jumped.  He kept his call behind his teeth.  Behind him, he heard the trooper follow.  He looked up.  Looking down, the trooper let his body swing downwards while holding onto the roof and then dropped ungracefully.

The front door of the house opened and a man in pajamas peeked out. 

"Official business, go back inside," Sephiroth called out.

Knowing authority, the man took the hint.  Cloud on the other hand walked up to him on unsteady legs. 

Eyes narrowed, Sephiroth watched him.  "Strife..."  Either he had to knock the man out or some similar restraint, or he had to accept the fact that the trooper was the most stubborn person on the planet and deal with it.  In too much pain and lacking time, and for a reason he didn't want to acknowledge at the moment, he went for the middle ground and said, "Give me your phone."

Cloud only hesitated for a moment before he opened a flap on his pants and handed it to him.  Sephiroth wasted no time in dropping it and smashing it with his unsprained foot.

"Hey!"

Sephiroth turned around and stalked away the best he could.  He wasn't surprised in the least when the trooper followed.  

Couldn't Tseng have chosen a different trooper to babysit him?  Or was Cloud Strife some kind of carefully planned punishment?  Actually, considering everything that had happened in the last 15 minutes, that kind of made sense.


	6. Road Trip to Freedom

Body aching from head to toe, the back of his mind counting the number of bruises that were going to litter his body by the next day, Cloud Strife followed after the general.  He'd been ordered to follow him, after all, no matter where General Sephiroth went or what he did.

His first objective had been to keep Sephiroth on the floor of the general's apartment, but if that didn't happen, his second objective had been to track the man.  From the look in the president's eyes, that had meant the mission continued on until it was complete or Cloud's body literally fell apart from trying.  During the briefing, Tseng had merely stared at him with an icy expression, giving Cloud the distinct impression that the Turk had thought he couldn't do it. 

Well, he could do it.  He couldn't, wouldn't fail this mission.  His goal was to be a SOLDIER, to be like the man walking before him, and if he succeeded with his orders, the president had promised him another assessment, another chance to join SOLDIER.  He'd been assured the new assessment would go much better than the first one.

Nonetheless, Sephiroth's words haunted him, nagged him into thinking absurd thoughts:  _"No order is worth this.  Don't let ShinRa take your life from you."_

How could Sephiroth of all people say such a thing?  Cloud couldn't understand it.  The general was a war hero, the very definition of a SOLDIER.  That the older man would try to sprout doubt in him about ShinRa...  Why?

Cloud shook his head, gritting his teeth, as he followed Sephiroth the best he could through dump sites and junk littered streets.  He knew he shouldn't have been glad Sephiroth was injured, but couldn't help it.  It was difficult enough to keep up with the SOLDIER, and add onto that the trooper's injuries he refused to complain about...   Well, he wouldn't have had any hope of fulfilling his mission if Sephiroth wasn't slowed down.  But he was also glad that the SOLDIER had taken a few moments to heal his leg the best he could in a constrained amount of time.

Slowly but surely though, Sephiroth's breathing became more and more haggard.  And Cloud felt guiltier and guiltier for his impulsive behavior and thoughts. 

Never in Cloud's wildest dreams had he thought he'd have to go up against the man who was his idol, a fantasy of who Cloud wanted to be, as well as his fantasy of other things...  He tried to not picture those particular miscellaneous fantasies, but couldn't help lustful glimpses of them before he could shake them out of his head.  What a time to think about such things!  But if the other man wasn't walking in front of him, his silver-white hair swinging with every step, giving teases to the hard body it hid... 

Cloud blew out a heavy breath.  This mission, the chance to be next to Sephiroth, was his most beloved dream, and at the same time, presently, his worst nightmare.

Eventually, they made their way to the outer wall of Midgar.  The structure grew with each step, towering before them, until Cloud couldn't help but look up and be impressed.  Midgar was a feat, a marvel.  His own small, nearly non-existent town was sad in comparison.  There was nothing else like Midgar in the world.  It displayed for the world's benefit ShinRa's power and grace.  When he'd first seen it, he couldn't help his gaping mouth, nor his excited breaths and words, all of which had earned him a few grins from the nicer SOLDIER wannabes who'd been to Midgar before or lived there.

When they reached the wall, Sephiroth sat down on some forgotten crates, huffing unsteady breaths, his hands on his knees which were spread apart.  Almost to the point Cloud couldn't hear the words, Sephiroth mumbled, "Why haven't we seen anyone?"

Cloud opened his mouth, not sure if Sephiroth wanted a reply from him, but he wanted to help.  After a moment, he said, "Maybe they don't know where we are."

Sephiroth let out a harsh chuckle.  "At the rate we've been moving, and the fact that they surely tracked us to this sector, well, all of your friends should be on top of us by now."

"I-I don't know."

Aquamarine cat-like eyes lifted to frown at him.  "Did Tseng or the president or anyone else give you anything for your assignment?"

"Ah..." 

"Give it to me."

With the condescending tone, the lack of trust coming from his idol, Cloud glared in the darkness as irrational anger took hold.  How had anyone expected him to succeed with this mission?  How in the world could he control General Sephiroth all on his own?  It was like he'd been set up to fail.  His cheeks flushed at the thought.  It was like Nibelheim all over again.

Cloud dug into another pants pocket and pulled out a thin wallet that held a credit card for a ShinRa account, some gil, identification, and ShinRa phone numbers.  Sephiroth took it, filing through all the contents and then tossed it behind himself.

Seriously?

The general's eyes locked back on him, all of him, and Cloud felt heat rush through him.  "When did you put that armor on?"

"Uh, this morning when I woke up.  Why?"

"Did anyone touch you?"

"I... I don't know.  Not that I remember."

"Come here." 

Cloud's flush only grew. 

"Now."

Cloud inched forward, closing the distance between them.  Nearly an hour before, he'd been against the other man by the grace of his own stupidity.  This moment was quite a bit different since he was doing it with conscious, thoughtful effort. 

The trooper sucked in a breath and held it when Sephiroth's hands reached for him.  The reaction gave the general the tiniest pause, their eyes locking, before Sephiroth lifted the strap holding on Cloud's rifle and tossed the weapon behind himself as well.  Cloud protested slightly with an outward gasp but then stilled completely when Sephiroth's hands grabbed him and ran through the length of his clothing, digging into his pockets along the way, emptying anything in them, before Sephiroth turned him around roughly and continued the tour along Cloud's backside.  Cloud's breaths grew heavier with each strong yank and stroke.  He knew he shouldn't have been reacting in such a way.  The general was clearly frisking him with a purpose.  But he couldn't help it and the unintended heat only made his reaction worse.

As quickly as it'd started, Sephiroth shoved him away.  "Are you going to continue following me?"  When Cloud refused to answer, the general continued with, "Take your top and gloves off and give them to me."

His palms sweating, fingers trembling, Cloud had a hard time undoing the buckles, zipper, and snaps, but soon enough the night air chilled his upper half that's only protection was a thin undershirt.  Unable to help himself, Cloud blurted out, "Anything else you want me to take off?"

After tossing the article, Sephiroth swept over him with his eyes, cold as ever, and Cloud clenched his fists.  "It's good enough for now.  You'll just have to change your clothes when you can.  That is, if you're still insisting on following me."

"And what about you?  If you're so concerned about being followed..."

The raised brow said, _'You'd like that, wouldn't you?'_   But then the older man did go through his own gear, inspecting what he could of his armor, looking over Masamune, taking out each materia to be sure nothing was concealed underneath.

During this, watching Sephiroth in the relative quietness, something occurred to Cloud:  If the general truly hadn't wanted him following, he could have ended all of this the moment Sephiroth had walked out of his apartment.  Instead, Cloud was still following at his heels. 

Beyond curious, Cloud uttered, "Why don't you stop me from following you?"

Sephiroth huffed.  "As if I can stop someone who's ready to suicide from a tower."

Cloud gritted his teeth, his arms crossing over his chest, all in an effort to hide his embarrassment.  Underneath his embarrassment though, he noted that Sephiroth hadn't really answered his question.

Finally, the taller man stood, towering over Cloud as he reattached his sword, and then walked away to a maintenance door some distance away that was partially covered with junk and debris.  Sephiroth entered a combination on the keypad, yanked the door open, junk jumping at the impact, and walked inside. 

The trooper followed him, not bothering to pick up his belongings except for a small good luck charm Tifa had gifted him to remind him of his promise.  If he wanted to continue on with Sephiroth to fulfill his mission, he already knew he had to leave the rest.  Luckily he already had the phone numbers memorized.

On the other side of the wall's interior, in the ruddy glow of motion detection lights, Cloud saw the general looking around for a thin, unwired spot.  When the man seemed satisfied with his selection, he slashed out once again with his sword, carving metal like it was butter.  The sight was frightening even to the trooper who was rather used to seeing people fight.  He couldn't imagine being on the receiving end of Sephiroth's fury and was more than glad that all of the rumors he'd heard about the general's coldness and temper hadn't been true. 

Well, the coldness was true to an extent, but if it was completely true, Cloud wouldn't have been standing there breathing at that moment.  As for Sephiroth's temper, any angry reaction to that point had been understandable and, for that matter, less than Cloud would have expected from others, even though Cloud hadn't enjoyed the verbal chastising.

Cloud followed after the limping man out onto the barren plains.  The ground was inky black in the dark night and all looked the same.  Had Midgar not been at his back and the cliffs far to his front, he would have quickly become lost.

And then, as they walked forward, a figure walked towards them, as if materializing out of thin air.  The man's white whickering hair, a hairstyle that provided a bridge between Sephiroth's and Cloud's, danced in the light breeze as they walked closer.  When they were close enough, Cloud noticed the new man's cold stare focused directly on him.

The trooper swallowed, coming to a standstill as Sephiroth keep walking forward and embraced the shorter man, murmuring quiet words Cloud couldn't make out.  The sight shocked him. 

He'd never seen or heard of the general being affectionate with anyone.  He'd heard the man had lovers, yes, but not a person he loved.  Cloud didn't want to admit how the sight burned his heart out from his chest.  He'd always thought, well, hoped that there was a chance for something between them, however slim.

Why in the world had Sephiroth allowed him to follow?

Feeling like the third wheel he officially was, the teenager stayed back, and watched, no longer having a clue what to do.  Nor could he take his eyes away from the two men.

A minute later, Sephiroth finally turned his head to look at him, and Cloud couldn't stop the renewed flushing of his cheeks.  Then the two men started walking away.  They had no use for him.  He was an outsider, an unwelcome guest at best.

For a moment, Cloud couldn't move forward, mortified, lost in his own prejudices and trampled on self-esteem.  Their bodies became slim in the distance.

But he still had his mission at least and a chance at a better life by fulfilling it.  With the renewed determination in mind, he forced his legs to follow after them. 

The first chance he got, he'd find a phone and tell Tseng that the second target had been located.

 

 

Hearing kicked stones, Kuja looked back and saw that the human had apparently decided to follow them, much to his disappointment.  His body tensed, but he tried to not let it show.  Nonetheless, Sephiroth turned an eye on him, questioning, leaving Kuja wishing once again that he could block the human completely from his mind when he wanted to.

During their embrace and Sephiroth's confession, with the human trying to reassure him, downplaying the obvious injuries the general had suffered, Kuja had seen in Sephiroth's thoughts the majority of what had occurred.  But the SOLDIER wouldn't allow him to try to heal him because Sephiroth wanted to get away from Midgar as quickly as possible, nevermind the injuries slowed them down, although admittedly not by much. 

Kuja's eyes narrowed at Cloud, knowing the human was the cause of the injuries. But the human kept following.

Kuja wanted to state his displeasure over the matter, but the trooper wasn't worth the battle that might ensue.  He could tell the general was quite taken with what the boy had done, his willingness to persevere whatever the cost.  In Kuja's book though, he called it plain stupidity.  If it wasn't for Sephiroth's protection, he would have already done away with Cloud, mostly in the name of spite, but also because, well, what good could possibly come from him tagging along?

The shorter man tucked silver locks behind an ear and looked up to his lover.  He offered a smile which Sephiroth returned somewhat stiffly.  He could see the worry behind the taller person's otherwise strong features.  He could see the question, even without going into Sephiroth's mind.

_What are we going to do now?_

It was a good question.  And considering the possibilities, Kuja didn't have a clue.  Zidane and Gaia seemed so far out of reach at that point.  This world and that one obviously weren't the same place.  He didn't know where his world was.  Nor did he even know how he'd gotten to this one, a world also called Gaia.  Without that knowledge, how could he ever even attempt going back home?

If he couldn't go back home, at least not yet, then...

Then he had no other choice than to start building one here.  It helped that he had someone to build it with, who was presently as homeless as he was.  His smile softened as he looked to the horizon. 

Soon they came near a curving dirt road.  Back towards Midgar, two lights appeared, traveling towards them.  He realized they were probably attached to one of this world's automobiles.  The men came to a standstill.  "Sephiroth..."

"I see it.  We'll see if we can hitch a ride."

"We could always fly."

"You want to fly carrying all of us?"  The disbelief in Sephiroth's tone was unmistakable. 

Was he so obvious?

Kuja narrowed his eyes at the teenager slowly making his way up to them.  "Not particularly."

"So, we'll hitch a ride."

Like beggars?  The idea was quite unappealing, but it was better than the alternative of being forced to touch the boy, he supposed.  Besides, he couldn't take much more of Sephiroth's pain which came off of him in waves.

Within minutes, the pickup drove close enough to flag down.  Kuja could see the elderly woman eyeing them with clear suspicion as she slowed down a bit.  Then her curiosity seemed to get the better of her as she came to a stop. 

"You boys need a ride to Kalm?"

Sephiroth walked up to the pickup.  "Yes, if you could."

"Well, one of you can come up front.  The rest of you, mind the supplies."

"Strife, ride up front."

The teenager nodded with a, "Yeah, okay."

Kuja climbed into the box, followed by Sephiroth, as the passenger door opened and closed.  The genome couldn't help his grimace at the dirty, unwashed conditions of the metal and supplies.  Burlap sacks, boxes, and bags barely gave them room to find a seat.  When the pickup suddenly started moving again though, he resigned to sitting on one of the sacks that molded slightly to his form.  From the smell of it, it appeared to be some kind of grain.

The rocky road made the trip bumpy.  He could barely remain on his makeshift seat.  All the bouncing brought unwelcome pain to his hidden tail.  He wanted to free it but he wasn't sure which consequence was worse to deal with.  He just hoped the trip would go by quickly.

After a half an hour of trying to keep his hair out of his face because of the wind, he saw distant lights from a town.  The closer they got, the greener the ground got, the more relieved he became.  He was more than happy to be rid of Midgar and its unnaturalness.

The woman stopped outside of town, opened the back window, saying, "I'll let you boys out here.  My farm's out a few more miles out."

Sephiroth pulled out some gil, handing it to her with a thank you.

"Nah, keep it.  Have to support the troops, you know, although ShinRa can shove it up their ass.  And I was headed in this direction anyway," she said with a tone and crooked smile that also said underneath, _'Now get out of my pickup so I can get some sleep before the sun rises.'_ When the three of them stood on the side of the road, she gave them one last look over before she added, "Rumors are flying everywhere in Midgar, I'm sure you know.  General, you might want to keep off the road from now on."

Sephiroth nodded.  "Thank you, ma'am, I'll keep that in mind."

When the truck gave him some breathing room as it drove off, Kuja brushed at his clothing and mumbled, "That whole affair was...  rather unpleasant."

Sephiroth grinned knowingly down at him.  Noticing it, Kuja glared back, annoyed with his lover's amusement.  Yes, Kuja had spent his life in luxury.  After all, rulers weren't about to listen to a vagabond.  He would have been lucky to get in their door, let alone offer council.  And neither had Garland see it fit to live below the status of a king.  To travel around in a farmer's truck...  He sniffed the air, hoping his clothing wouldn't cling onto the scent for long.

Letting Kuja stew in his own distaste, Sephiroth looked to the town again.  "Let's get a room at the inn.  In the morning, we'll need to get some new clothes.  I should have enough gil to buy a car off of someone here.  But maybe we're better off sticking to chocobos.  They can handle the terrain better and don't need fuel."

Kuja eyed the silent boy as Sephiroth spoke and saw it:  a hopeful, adoring look directed at the general that Kuja knew mirrored his own.  Did Sephiroth even notice the look?  Kuja's gut gnawed at him as he felt the first pangs of jealousy he'd felt since he realized he was second place to Zidane.  Back then, it had made him boil, but he'd still had his sense of identity.  This time, however, the pain made him faint with longing and rage.

It was in that moment that Kuja knew he had to get rid of this boy in one way or another.  But it had to be done without Sephiroth realizing it.  And how could that ever happen?

Then the teenager looked at him, perhaps noticing the genome's glare, and then looked away, anywhere besides at Kuja.  Cloud looked like he wanted to melt away into the road and disappear.  The weakness made Kuja want to destroy him.

Whatever Sephiroth saw in trooper that made him want to keep Cloud like a pet, he hadn't see it before.  He definitely wasn't seeing it now. 

The general must have sensed his emotions, looking to him suddenly, so Kuja did his best to bury them under well versed apathy, blowing out a huff of air as he walked into the town ahead of the rest, sizing it up, noticing the functionality as well as its defensibility.  And its ability to trap someone within its walls.  Shaking his head at the promise of a prison that couldn't hold him, he saw what appeared to be the inn and walked inside.  Sephiroth was only a few steps behind him and was followed by his new shadow.

The general hit the bell on the desk a couple of times before an obviously newly awoken person walked out of a back room to greet them.  "Good very early morning, sirs.  If you're looking for a room, we only have one left.  And it only has one bed."

"That's fine.  We'll take it."

"Okay, I'll throw in a couple of cots for you since you're lacking choices."

Money exchanged hands and the three of them went up to the designated room, Cloud and Sephiroth carrying the single-person cots with them.  After they arranged the small room so that they wouldn't be tripping over one another, Cloud started heading towards the door.

"I'll be right back.  I haven't eaten anything all day. You know, because of what happened."

Sephiroth straightened and took a step forward.  "You don't have money." 

Cloud paused.  "Ah, yeah, I don't.  You took it."

"Stay here.  I'll get us something."

"No, it's okay.  I can do it.  I need to make myself useful, right?"

Sephiroth stared at him.  The air grew decidedly tense.  Kuja looked between them and realized Sephiroth was suspicious.  And Cloud was looking decidedly guilty as he fidgeted, his hands making repeated fists, his eyes trying to stare down Sephiroth, but not having the oomph to be effective in the least.  Finally Cloud looked to the ground.  The boy needed to brush up on his lying skills.

"You're staying here."

Cloud's jaw tightened to the point that Kuja thought the trooper might burst out crying.  As amusing as that would have been, it would have done little in gaining Sephiroth's permission to kill him.

"I'll go so you two can work this out," Kuja offered, smiling, walking up to Sephiroth and holding out his hand, knowing he could always see in Sephiroth's thoughts later what had happened.

"There's nothing to work out," Cloud hissed.  "I'm not your prisoner."

Sephiroth took another step forward.  "I'm going to have to disagree with that assessment."

Cloud's entire body stiffened at the words, his eyes wide, unbelieving.  His jaw worked up and down for a moment.  "You-You don't have the right!  I've been given orders by the president to-"

"Do you see the president here?"  Sephiroth's voice became dangerously low as he took yet another step forward.  Another step or two and the general could have grabbed him and throttled him.  "You really should have thought about these things before you followed me, Strife."

The boy blanched.  "I... I..."

"If you still want your freedom, from me anyway, you're going to have to wait until morning when Kuja and I leave."  When Cloud merely stared, he added, "Do you understand me?"

"Yes.  Yes, sir."

"Now lay down, rest up, and I'll get us something to eat."

"I-I'm not all that hungry..."

"Okay, then go to sleep."

"Yes, sir."  The teenager slinked past both of them and laid on a cot, turning to the wall, burying his face partially in the cot's nearly flat pillow.

Sephiroth watched him for a moment and then looked down at Kuja.  Whatever humor Sephiroth had had before that moment had drained from him.  Nonetheless, Sephiroth caressed Kuja's arm, murmuring, "Take the bed and sleep if you can."

"What about your leg?"

"I'll take care of it."

Kuja touched it, feeling the strain of it.  "Allow me."  He walked backwards to the bed, Sephiroth still gripping him.  "Come, lay down."

The general only spared a small glance to Cloud before he succumbed and walked to the plush mattress, laying down on it.  Kuja followed him and stood at the edge of the bed and laid his hands over the leg, one on the thigh and the other on the lower part and then lower still, as he felt for where the pain was coming from.  When he lightly touched his ankle, Sephiroth hissed.  The whole of it was swelled and noticeably bigger than the other one.  The man would probably have a difficult time getting his boot off until the swelling went down.

Unable to help another glare at the teenager who surely hung on their every sound, Kuja built a warmth inside of himself and pushed it out to his fingertips, using the light to heal instead of destroy.  Quickly, the taller man's breathing relaxed.  When the flesh no longer called to Kuja, he turned his attention to the rest of Sephiroth body, finding any pains and soothing them.  By the end, he was exhausted, but he knew it was the least he could do for everything Sephiroth had done for him and wanted to do for him. 

And he was more than happy to do it in front of Cloud as the boy laid there, helpless, useless, and hopefully regretting ever setting eyes on his lover.


	7. I Like You That Way

Warning: Graphic Violence and Death.

 

Cloud's blood pumping from his clash with Sephiroth, he laid there and fought, with all of his strength, the urge to bolt out of the room.  He unwillingly listened to the men behind him, but also refused to cover his ears.  Doing so would have only proved that he listened.  He didn't want them to think he had any part in this.  He didn't want any part of it.  He wished they'd just go to sleep.  Couldn't they just go to sleep?  But even if they did sleep, he didn't know if he dared to attempt leaving.

Whatever he did though, the trooper had to focus, had to make that phone call and get himself out.  He couldn't focus on the heavy breathing, the creaking of the mattress.  The general's soft sighs that borderlined on moans.  How could he be expected to not listen to that?

Footsteps sounded.  The light turned off.  More creaking paraded into his ears.  Clothing rustled.  For a moment there was blessed quiet.  He held his breath, hoping.  Then the wet sound of kissing renewed his pumping blood with a vengeance. 

Had they forgotten there was another cot?  He doubted it. 

More rustling, bodies shifting, mattress coils protesting.  Starting at the wall, the teenager couldn't help his blush.

Seriously? Seriously?

Then he heard Sephiroth's soft voice.  Who would have ever thought the general's voice could be so soft?  The other man purred something back, equally soft but coquettish to Cloud's ears.  Didn't they have an ounce of decency? 

His internal upheaval mashed his virginal status in his face and tightened his groin against his will.  He gripped the pillow tighter. 

Then a strange light lifted the total darkness of the room.  It pulsated in shallow bursts that nurtured itself into stronger ones.  Unable to help himself, Cloud rolled onto his back, turned his head, and realized where the light was coming from.

Seeing the source, Cloud also couldn't help his strained, "What the hell?"

The light dropped, plunging them all into darkness.  He blinked at the loss.  Imprinted flashes brought it back, even if only momentarily.

"Go to sleep, Strife," Sephiroth growled, his voice strained, but probably for different reasons.  Well, maybe.

Cloud whipped back over to face the wall.  His eyes wide, his mind jumbled and scared for yet another reason, he waited for something more to happen.  After that though, the two were quiet, so quiet that, minutes later, Cloud couldn't figure out whether they were sleeping or awake.  He could hear their relaxed breaths though while straining to hear something, anything, even over his own heavy ones. 

Eventually, the quiet breaths lulled him, softening his pulse and the hardness at his groin, the sounds so similar to sleeping in the barracks.  Nonetheless, with his mind confused beyond all hope, sleep couldn't claim him, and he laid half way between sleep and consciousness for the rest of the night, which was only a few more hours.

Had he gone to sleep though, he wouldn't have noticed the shuffling of feet, the light in the hallway dim without warning.  And he probably wouldn't have noticed the door's lock shift, nor the door itself creep open, seeping distant light into the room.  Cloud lifted his head off the cot and watched black figures, outlined by the light behind them, shadow into the room.  From the shapes of their outlines, he could tell they wore trooper clothing.

One of them went directly to him, covering his mouth, breathing hot breath next to his ear.  Night vision goggles hid the trooper's eyes.  More mouthed than whispered, he said, "Stay quiet."

At that same moment, Cloud heard the barest hints of feet move to the bed behind him.  Then, breaking the near silence, springs raged as bodies fought, unlike the indulgent noises hours before.  A man hollered to hold someone down.  Another screamed.  The man gripping him wrenched away.  Cloud couldn't tell whether or not it was of the man's own accord.  Light exploded in the room, making it as bright as the sun, and more people screamed.  Nearly blind, Cloud threw himself off of the cot and towards the door.  Whatever could have been accomplished at that moment, he couldn't have helped, and being weaponless against a SOLDIER, he knew that.

Something landed on top of him, slamming him to the floor, awakening hours-old bruises.  He tried to twist to get away, his hands slickening in black wetness that he knew was pooling blood.  When he finally twisted his body around enough, to shove at the heavy, lifeless body, his vision almost back, Cloud realized he'd only be shoving at the lower half of a man cut off at the chest.  He heard another scream and, his body yanking in a crab-like dance, trying to not touch the dead hunk of flesh in his escape, he realized the panting scream was his own.

Fire burned in the room, shining off of the man that came at him when he'd almost gotten free.  Crimson hair floating around white skin, the attacking man's expression terrified him.  Whoever or whatever the second target was, Cloud recognized him, but nonetheless nearly convinced himself that it couldn't be Sephiroth's lover, that Sephiroth would never love someone that evil and merciless.

In his lifetime, Cloud had seen enough fuming looks, the redhead's included in that list from earlier that night, but as a teenager lost in his own sense of immortality, he hadn't taken the looks completely seriously.  Now...

Now, he saw death looking like it wanted to claw his face off, right after ripping his heart out and feeding it to him.

The man grabbed Cloud by the front of the shirt so that the trooper was forced to stop his retreat.  Then the man's strength dragged him to his feet.  It was a strength Cloud wouldn't have guessed for a second that the other man possessed in such a small, frail body. 

"You did this," the man hissed with the venom of a snake.

Cloud gripped at the hand holding him, trying to pry it loose.  When that didn't work in the least, he clawed at them, at anything, wishing at the very least that his shirt would rip and free him. 

"It wasn't me," the trooper called out with every ounce of enthusiasm he had.  It was true enough.  Never mind he'd planned on being the one to draw ShinRa to them, but someone or something else had obviously beaten him to it.

A hand gripped the redhead's shoulder before Sephiroth stepped behind Kuja so that Cloud could see him towering over them both.  Something was wrong with the general.  He seemed disorientated and trying his best to keep his hold on consciousness, his other hand at his forehead, his eyes blinking, as he staggered.

"Just leave him be, Kuja. If it was him, do you really think he would have been in the room?"

"You'll just let him go after everything he's done?!"

"If he's not attacking us, well, I'm not going to kill him in cold blood."

"And what if the opportunity came for him?  He could be under orders to kill us, and you're already suspicious of him."

"You don't know what he's been ordered to do.  And what about us?  You seem to forget who we ourselves are and what we've done in our lifetimes.  I thought...  Do you really think we have the right to decide whether he lives or dies?"

Kuja's eyes bore into Cloud, pure hatred flaming, making the trooper's throat choke on his breath.  Well, he choked on the look as much as on the smoke crowding the room.  He realized then that the only reason he wasn't dead at that moment was because of Sephiroth.  Twice, well, at least twice in just a few hours, he owed the general his life.

The redhead smirked without a trace of warmth.  "Self-preservation is something allowed to even the most basic creatures."

"Self-preservation or revenge?"  Sephiroth gripped Kuja's shoulder tighter and Kuja looked to the offending hand.  "Take him with us, if you want to extract some kind of revenge.  Otherwise, just let him go and let's get out of here before the place burns up.

After a humorless huff, Kuja's jaw clenched before his hand released Cloud but then grabbed the trooper's upper arm instead, dragging him to the door. 

"Wait, let's take the window," Sephiroth said behind them.

The grip whipped Cloud back around and the three of them stalked to the window, Sephiroth grabbing along the way his bloodied sword he'd propped up on the bed.  The general swiped at the glass, making it shatter into the dim morning light.  Cloud wrapped an arm around his face to shield it and then shouted his dismay in it when Kuja wrapped an arm around him and lifted him out the window and into the air.  When Cloud opened his eyes to attempt some kind of revolt against Kuja, he saw that Sephiroth had his arms around Kuja's chest, his chest at the redhead's back.

A crowd of people cried out and pointed at them.  Cloud looked on them and realized the people were probably the ones who'd spent the night in the Inn, as well as any gathering crowd once the noise had started.  He saw troopers as well trying to control them.  And among them the distinct glow of SOLDIER eyes.  A couple of soldiers raised their rifles, but for some reason they didn't shoot.  Cloud didn't know whether to be grateful or to beg them to do it and free him of the creature who obviously wasn't human.  No wonder they'd wanted him captured.

The arm held him to the point that he could barely breathe.  Then, they were away from the town, traveling east.  They'd literally flown several miles before Kuja set down and hurled Cloud onto the ground.  Cloud tumbled and settled in a heap, scraped on rocks and newly bruised.

Sephiroth plopped down onto the ground unceremoniously, wrapped his arms around his stomach, and seemed to put effort into controlling his breathing.

Cloud watched him, sitting up, flickered a glance to Kuja who stared down at Sephioth, whose rage seemed to have abated a bit, and then mumbled, "Are you okay, General?"

Before the general could answer, well, if he could even be called a general at that point, Kuja stepped forward.  "Take the rest of your clothes off.  Now.  All of them."

Cloud looked up, his mouth cracked open, flabbergasted.  The creature didn't waver.  "You can't be serious.  I didn't bring them to you!"

"Take them off or I'll take them off." The trooper didn't suspect Kuja's resolve in the least. 

As bloody as Cloud realized he was in the new day's light, he wouldn't have minded getting rid of the clothes so much, if it wasn't for the other person's obvious superiority complex.  As it was, Cloud stood up on unsteady legs and feigned a glare.  "Just-Just let me go!"

Sephiroth let out a silky long-lived laugh that shook his shoulders.  Kuja jerked his head to the man.  Neither said a word, but from their expressions, Cloud got the distinct impression that they were having a conversation.  He'd heard stories of telepathy and other psychic abilities, although never literal human flight, but he'd never been a knowing witness to them before that day.  The closest he'd ever gotten to such things were materia, but those had a scientific explanation.  Well, then again, if telepathy did exist, then by definition, it must have been scientific in some respect.

Cloud gritted his teeth.  Could it have been possible to feel more like an outsider?  Apparently it was.  Cloud stood there and fidgeted, entertaining the idea of simply sprinting away across the barren field.  He knew it would have been pointless, but at that point, still weaponless, it was really his only option for escape. 

Aquamarine eyes finally settled on him and the man smirked.  "It -is- morning, I suppose.  If you'd like to leave, then go.  We won't stop you.  Just head back west a few miles and you'll run back into Kalm.   Or head southwest for Midgar."

To do that, Cloud realized he'd have to either walk around them or walk through them.  He started forward, making a considerable circle around them. 

When Cloud was behind Sephiroth to the point that the older man would have to twist his head around to watch him, curiosity once again getting the better of him, all of his ambitions collapsing now that he was actually walking away from his idol, something he'd never thought he'd ever do, he blurted out, "Why are you doing this, Sephiroth?  Why-why would you..."

Sephiroth turned his head to look at him.  His skin was abnormally pale from whatever inflicted him, but he seemed to be more in control at that point, more like the general Cloud knew.  Then Sephiroth smiled and the expression thudded his heart.  "I'm done being their puppet."

"You're not going to come back then?  Ever?"

"No, why would I?"

The words wrenched from Cloud nearly every hope for his future he'd ever built up inside himself.  He bit back annoying tears.  SOLDIERs didn't cry.  SOLDIERs didn't abandon their profession unless they were old or dead.  And SOLDIERs definitely didn't give up and simply walk away from everyone who depended on them.  What Sephiroth was doing and saying was blasphemy.

"Strife, you have no idea what goes on in ShinRa, how they're run, what they've done, what they do every day.  If you knew, you wouldn't be so hard-pressed to return to them."

"If you think it's so wrong then why don't you stop them?"

Sephiroth frowned at that, looking to the ground.  Cloud had meant the words, the reasoning behind them, but at the man's expression, he realized he might have given Sephiroth ideas and in turn incited him.  Sephiroth had already come this far, after all.  What was one more step?  Or ten?

Cloud knew he really needed to learn how to keep his mouth shut.

The blood draining from his face, the trooper quickly said, "You know what, you're right.  You should go, if that's how you feel."

The ex-general's frown turned on him.  To his horror or delight, not sure how to react anymore, the older man's smile crept back onto his face.  "I have no intention of bringing death and destruction on people."

"Like the people at the Inn?"

"They attacked us first."

"You didn't have to kill them."

"When you have over ten people crowding in, coming to take you to hell's gate when you have no intention of going, someone is going to get hurt."

Watching Sephiroth's wavering body, It occurred to Cloud then what had been wrong with Sephiroth, why the troopers had urged him to be quiet so they could stealth their way in.  Cloud took a step towards Sephiroth, ignoring the redhead only a few feet from the taller man.  "They tried to drug you, didn't they?  They were just trying to bring you back."

"Maybe.  And Kuja?  What do you think they were going to do with him?"

Cloud flickered a glance to Kuja, not really wanting to, but Sephiroth's renewed frown demanded it.  Cloud pressed his lips together with a shake of his head and answered truthfully.  "I don't know what they would have done with him."

"You don't want to know."  Sephiroth stood back up.  His muscles strained and he wobbled slightly, but he managed to stay more or less straight.  "We have to go now.  Like I said, just keep heading west, back the way we came.  You'll eventually either run into Kalm or the road.  And if you see two SOLDIERs named Genesis and Angeal still there, tell them to not worry about me."

Without realizing it, Cloud took another step forward.  "Where will you go?"

"You really think I'm going to tell you that?"

Color rushed to Cloud's cheeks and he looked back towards Kalm.  A quiet breeze danced over his tight skin, tight from the dried blood.  He sucked in a breath of the breeze and realized how different the air was from Midgar.  He hadn't left Midgar in months, not since he'd first arrived. 

In the quiet, curious, Cloud glanced back to Kuja since the man had been so quiet.  The redhead still stared, yes, but gone was the rage.  In its place...  Cloud's eyebrows raised a touch at the soft quizzical expression he saw there.  His brows raised higher when he realized Kuja had shifted back into his previous coloring.  Then Kuja looked up to Sephiroth, his expression hardened, and he huffed out a breath, looking to the horizon.  The sight tensed Cloud's stomach.

A side of his mouth curling up, Sephiroth said into the moist morning air, "Would you like to come with us, Strife?"

"Come with you?"

"Yes, of your own free will.  Unfortunately I can't give you much time to think on it."

Cloud shook his head.  His stomach cramped at that point.  To even think it... It went against everything he believed.  He'd wanted to be better than himself.  To be one of the best and fight at General Sephiroth's side.  To have his mother be proud of him and be able to talk about him with pride.  To have his name give the world hope.  Was that so much to ask for?  And could he accomplish any of that by being a renegade with Sephiroth and his inhuman lover?  Well, he could accomplish the second one, maybe.

"I don't even see how I could...  Why..."  Cloud closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to steady himself.  "Why would you even want me to come with you?"

"Because I don't want you to go back to them.  You're better than them."

Outside of Tifa and, of course, his mother, no one had ever told him such a thing.  To hear the words from his idol...  "You barely know me."

"I know enough."

Cloud looked over the two men and wondered what his place could ever be between them.

The ex-general seemed to know his thought when he chided, "We're not asking for your hand in marriage.  You don't have to stay with us forever."

His flush renewed.  Would they even let him stay with them forever?  What could he even do with his life if he left them?  Cloud huffed a small laugh and hugged himself.

"Cloud."

The teenager blinked at his name, realizing it was the first time Sephiroth had ever used it.  He was surprised the man had even bothered to remember it. 

The blonde man tried to race through everything in his mind once again, but ended up just as confused as before.  He didn't know what to do.  He had two conflicting stories, both of which separate parts of him wanted to be true.

Kuja touched the taller man's arm, then gripped it, taking a step back.  Sephiroth stood for a moment, resisting the gentle pull, and that shocked Cloud more than anything else during their conversation.  Sephiroth really did want him to come.  The realization made his head spin.  Then Sephiroth turned and both of them began to walk away. 

It was now or never.  He knew they'd never give him another chance, not when they clearly wanted to disappear from civilization.

"I'll come," he called out.

Kuja huffed, clearly irritated, but Sephiroth turned to Cloud with a smile.  "Take your clothes off then.  You can leave your underwear on, if you have them."

Color flamed his cheeks.  "Can't I-" Sephiroth raised a brow at him.  "Fine!"  The blonde man stripped bloodstained clothing off of his trembling skin.  Luckily he did have briefs on.  Then he eyed the men with fury mixed with embarrassment.  "And what about you?"

"Would that make you feel better, Cloud?"

At the lax, jesting words, Cloud suddenly prayed that Kuja wasn't the seriously jealous type.  And he also suddenly realized what every other one of Sephiroth's lovers had probably felt under his cool gaze. 

Without waiting for a reply, Sephiroth did lay down his sword and unbuckle his armor quickly.  After pulling out a few items from his coat and handing them to Kuja who took them grudgingly, off slipped his coat, leaving the bare skin of his torso.  Cloud knew he was staring at it and the multitude of scars lining it, but couldn't help it.  The ex-general's boots came off with a bit more effort than the rest, but he added them to the pile.  Finally, the man slipped his pants off. 

Unlike Cloud, the man was quite naked underneath them.  Even deflated, Sephiroth was impressive.  Kuja blew out a hiss at the sight and started walking away.  Cloud swallowed and finally did manage to look away.  Remembering his good luck charm then as he looked down at the distraction of his own gear, he found it, palming it, as Sephiroth picked back up his sword.

Sephiroth followed after Kuja, and Cloud followed after him, unable to help but look at the rippling backside before him that teased him under long, blood smeared silver hair.  He couldn't find much pleasure in it though as rocks jabbed his feet on occasion.  Luckily the plain was grass-filled, although the wild grass had its own hard edges, along with traces of not so lenient weeds.

After a few minutes, Kuja sighed a malicious groan.  His colors shifted, and he looked behind himself at the two men with narrowed eyes and then stopped.  Cloud could only guess that Sephiroth had said something to Kuja.

When Cloud's steps faltered, Kuja growled, "Come." 

Stepping next to Kuja, Sephiroth bent to the redhead's ear, whispering something, and to Cloud's amazement, white light glowed from the man's skin.  Granted it was barely discernable from the rising sun, but it was there.   The small smile now curving Kuja's lips made him almost approachable.  But when his eyes locked back onto Cloud's, the smile disappeared as well as the glow.

When the ex-trooper still didn't move, Sephiroth offered, "We're going to the chocobo farm to the southeast.  On foot, it'll take us at least a couple of days.  I'm not looking forward to nighttime, nor ShinRa catching back up with us.  So, come here, before he changes his mind."

Gradually, Cloud's feet did what he didn't want to do.  When the redhead held him close, Kuja being about his own height which made their faces close as well, Sephiroth again pressed at Kuja's back, wrapping his arms around his lover's chest.  Cloud tentatively placed his hands at the Kuja's shoulders to hold himself steady, his forearms resting against Sephiroth's.  Kuja glared at him, but it wasn't nearly the hate he'd given Cloud less than twenty minutes before.

With a grunted sigh, the man took off into the air, and Cloud understood the man's resentment for once.  He wouldn't have wanted to be treated like a mount either.

Within an hour, they landed on the outskirts of a farm.  Kuja's strength never wavered but he was obviously more than happy to shove Cloud away when their feet touched the ground.  However, Sephiroth's arms stayed around the shorter man, his lips at his cheek.  Cloud had to wonder if the ex-general's methods were manipulation, but then, he supposed, he would have fallen for it quite easily and willingly himself if it had been directed against his own body. 

Sighing, giving the men some privacy, he looked out to the farm in the distance.  The long fence held in several roaming chocobos in a variety of colors, although most were the standard yellow.  No one worked the field however, but surely the owner was in the large, elongated barn or in the house.

Behind him, Sephiroth said, "We'll stay here, out of sight, since we're not exactly presentable."

Alone with a naked Sephiroth?  He blew out a huff of air and shrugged, not looking back.  Whatever.  He could deal with it.  "Yeah, sure."

Kuja walked past him, his color already faded. 

Behind them, Sephiroth added, "See if you can buy some clothes off him too."

Kuja turned his head, giving the ex-general a once over, and then he smirked.  "I'll see..."

Cloud pressed his lips together to stop his responsive grin.  At least Kuja clearly agreed with him on one thing:  There was nothing more appealing on Gaia than a naked Sephiroth.


	8. Things I Regret

The sun's warming glare sucked up the remaining moisture in the air and ground as the two men stood watching the distant farm.  It wasn't long before Cloud resigned to sitting on the ground, his knees pulled close with his chin on top of them.  Sephiroth would have sat down himself, but wasn't sure he wanted to risk a bare brush with weeds and poking grass. 

The teenager had been disturbingly quiet ever since Kuja had walked away from them.  After all, it'd seemed like Cloud always had something to say about just about anything.  At first, Sephiroth had assumed Cloud's sudden distance had mostly been over the older man's shameless nakedness.

A fact he hadn't yet noted to Cloud:  He'd never been embarrassed of his own body.  The idea of clothes had never held any great appeal to him, and in fact, he'd often found them to be a hindrance.  As a child, the scientists had a difficult time keep a scrap of cloth on him.  Eventually, yes, he'd conformed to society's rules, but given the chance and proper weather, well, he would have gone naked every day when circumstances didn't dictate armor.

Silver brows drawn together, Sephiroth stayed behind the trooper and studied him, the tensing of his body, the breaths that whispered of some kind of inner torture.  Thinking back on what had happened in the last few hours, Sephiroth suddenly wondered, not for the first time, if he'd made a mistake in urging Cloud to come with them.

During the war and on the field, the silver-haired man had seen plenty of trauma, both physical and mental.  Nearly raised on pain, fighting, and war though, he'd never come to the point that many of the other soldiers did who had hope in their lives.

With Cloud's mind now left to the quiet morning with nothing to do but wait, Sephiroth worried that the prior events were finally getting to him.  Perhaps, in a state of shock before, the trooper had done a good job of burying what had happened, so that he could cope with everything life was throwing at him.  Many soldiers dealt with life that way, but eventually the trauma would build up to the point where the soldier exploded or imploded. 

In his own youth, drowning in the pain of not having parents and few people who even saw him as human rather than an experiment, his explosions had hurt a lot of people before he'd learned to deal with life.  When he had, it'd saved others from pain and himself from yet more misery and seemingly endless punishments. 

Hojo had called his advancement training.  Sephiroth called it desensitization.  But the overall loss of feeling had been the only reason he'd made it through the war and to the present with some sign of mental stability.

He looked back to the farm and watched as Kuja made it to the front door and knocked on it.  In the same moment, Cloud flipped his hands out in front of his face, looking at them, before he started rubbing at them, at the dried blood.  The rubbing only became harsher.

Sephiroth's eyes drawn to it, his frown growing, he took a few steps forward and crouched down next to Cloud, looking at the side of his face.  "Are you all right?"

The blonde man huffed, a harsh sound.  "Yeah, I'm fine." 

The rubbing didn't stop.  Sephiroth could see the flesh reddening in places that wasn't stained.  He looked away towards the house, not wanting to stare.

With his mind, he found Kuja, who had already been invited in, and thought, //I may have made a mistake in bringing him.//

//You think so?// was the snarky reply.

Not much help to be found there, but that didn't surprise him.  This was his own fault, after all.  He could have ended Cloud's participation the moment it'd started.  He should have known better than to let the teenager even have a choice.

Beyond the boy's sense of duty, it was obvious that Cloud was impressionable and had a degree of idolism towards him.  And the ex-general had unwittingly taken advantage of that because, well, the guy had intrigued him beyond all measure. 

What other man out there would have done what Cloud had done?

No, Cloud wasn't a hard killer.  The events at the Inn had confirmed that.  Sephiroth cringed at the memory of the teenager's terrified face.  Add onto that what Cloud had experienced at the hands of Kuja and the creature's rage.  Plus, well, Cloud obviously had a certain degree of terror for Sephrioth as well.  Any of those things could have brought enough stress to be debilitating.

But Cloud was nonetheless here, for the most part.  He was ambitious, courageous, and so willing to do what he thought was right, even if those 'right' orders came from ShinRa.  But Sephiroth couldn't blame the younger man for it.  He'd once believed in ShinRa himself.

Sephiroth blew out a slow breath, focusing again on the external.  With it, he realized Cloud still hadn't stopped rubbing his arms.  The sight of the blood seemed to be driving Cloud crazy.  With his own hand, Sephiroth pressed one of Cloud's hands to the arm it was attacking, stilling it, trying to get the boy's attention.  "Come on, let's go to the house and get cleaned up."

"Yeah right."  Cloud yanked his hand away, his voice etched with anger.  "We're going to go there like this?"

"I'm sure there's a hose or something, if you don't want to go in."

"Look, I'm fine."

"Cloud..."  The teenager shifted away from him and Sephiroth dropped his hand.  "I'm trying to help you."

Blonde spikes swayed with the shake of his head.  His face crinkled up and Sephiroth thought he might cry.  "I'm really fine, okay?"

Then the rubbing started again.  Sephiroth could only watch him do it for a minute before he stood up and demanded, "We're going to the farm now.  Stand up and let's go."

Sephiroth knew he shouldn't have been ordering the younger man around in his state, since trying to control him had a good chance of egging on his instability, but he needed to get the blood off of him.  The sight of it only seemed to aggravate everything, a reminder of everything Cloud had suffered in less than 24 hours.  Sephiroth felt a hard pang of guilt.  He hadn't meant to make Cloud suffer.

When Cloud refused to even look at him, Sephiroth grabbed the teenager's upper arm, hoisted him up, and started marching him forward. 

"What the fuck?!  I said I was all right!" 

When Sephiroth didn't stop, Cloud tried to pry at the hand dragging him.  The fight continued on for more than half the way before the Cloud stopped fighting and merely took to resisting with his feet, each step jarring his body.  Then Sephiroth heard the man's choked sobs and his gut clenched.  He stopped instantly and turned to him, grasping Cloud's face in his large hands, wiping at tears with his thumbs without thought.

He hushed Cloud and whispered, "It's all right.  I just want to get you cleaned up.  You'll feel better when you do."

"I'm sorry.  I'm sorry."  Cloud huffed a shaky breath, obviously trying to regain some control over himself, and grabbed at the hands on his face, trying to pull them down.  "I'm crying like a damn kid.  No wonder..." 

A sob raked through Cloud and Sephiroth pulled him against his body, attempting to soothe him with a way he'd eventually learned to soothe angry lovers before inevitably shoving them out the door.  The shorter man pressed his face against his chest, tears wetting it, his arms bent with his hands at the sides of his face and against his chest. 

It took a few minutes before Cloud calmed down, but then managed to say, "My god, you're so... naked."

Sephiroth couldn't help his short burst of laughter, and let Cloud shift away from him.  The teenager looked down for a brief moment at what had been pressed to his stomach, and then shook his head as his cheeks tinged pink, looking towards the house still some distance away, wiping at his wet face but staining it red in the process. 

After a shallow breath, Sephiroth muttered, "I know this...  I mean, I brought you into this and I'm sorry for it."

His face still scrunched up a bit, Cloud snorted with a small shake of his head.  "I brought myself into it."

"Yeah."  He'd let him have that.  "But that doesn't mean you've had control over everything that's happened.  Look...  I'm not going to abandon you or anything else you might be thinking." 

Unlike so many other times in his life, Sephiroth meant the words, just as he'd meant them with Kuja, but they didn't seem to help the shorter man much.  He expected that though.  Cloud needed time to come to terms with everything and decide what he was going to do.  It was time Sephiroth hadn't give him before but should have.  At least, at that point, Cloud still could have gone back to ShinRa had he really wanted to.

But beyond that, to help Cloud come to terms, the teenager also needed to get cleaned up.

"Let's find a hose or something."

Cloud didn't reply, but at least this time he willing followed the ex-general's lead.  For that, Sephiroth was grateful.  Some people weren't so easy to soothe.  They had to be dragged all the way, kicking and screaming.

They walked around the side of the house when no hose presented itself and found one there along with a large dirty bucket. 

After propping his sword up against the side of the house, grimacing from the odor that drifted up from the clump covered metal, Sephiroth reached beyond it, turned the valve and grabbed the end of the hose in one well-balanced swoop.  He retreated back a couple of steps and noticed Cloud holding his breath.  While chocobos were beasts of all terrains, keeping a bunch of them in close quarters wasn't going to make the air smell the best after a while.

"Let's move back a bit."

Cloud nodded and the walked a bit more to the fence.  While the birds hung out there too, at least they were more spread out and doused with a healthy breeze.  As they cleaned off in the chilled water, he noticed Cloud kept glancing at the barn.  He took a look himself, just in time to notice a girl poke out her head and retreat again.

"I think we're making her nervous," Sephiroth muttered.

"I can't imagine why..."

The ex-general grinned at the attempt at humor, showing Cloud's resiliency.  He'd need both traits in the days to come.

At a thought of his lover, Sephiroth reached out for the genome's mind.  //How's it going in there?//

//You don't have enough money for three chocobos.  Barely even two for the prices he's asking.  He claims the only ones he has for sale at the moment are of high breeding.  He suggested we hunt our own down with some 'materia' he'll sell to us for 2,000 gil.//

Not enough gil?  The prices must have been exuberant. 

//Any luck with clothes?//

//Yes, the boy's father has some old clothes that will fit well enough which he's willing to sell.//

//The boy?//

//He said his name is Billy.  His family traveled to Midgar yesterday for supplies, so it's just the children here today.  Him and Chole, his sister.//

//Ah...//

Children running a whole chocobo farm?  Their parents were lucky to have such dedicated free labor.  Then again, with all information Billy had revealed, they needed to teach the boy a certain amount of restraint when it came to strangers.

//Come inside.  He already knows about your state of undress.//

A minute after the thought, Kuja saw them walking up to the door and he walked to open it for them as the brunette boy busied himself at the stove.  Kuja ushered them to the bedroom, Sephiroth giving him a small frown at the genome's indifference, but Kuja ignored it, said, "You can have your pick of what's on the bed," and closed the door after them.

That done, Kuja sat back on the chair and watched the youth in his sure motions.  Billy had obviously been born and raised on the farm.  And watching him was better than concerning himself with the developing relationship he could see and hear in Sephiroth's mind that had nothing to do with Kuja.  Now, after the last few hours, Kuja had found the whole jealousy thing repugnant.  He'd spent years being jealous of Zidane.  A short time before, on Kuja's own deathbed, he'd come to regret every moment of it, all when it'd been too late to take it back.  He knew now that he didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Yes, Sephiroth and Cloud's relationship bothered him, especially when Sephiroth did nothing to deter the boy, but it wasn't like Sephiroth and he loved each other.  Right?  As a genome, could he even feel love?  How would he even know he was in love, if he could?   And why even bother with love in the first place?  What good could possibly come of it? 

Kuja blew out air he didn't really need.  Humans and their emotions.  Everything would have been so much easier if Garland hadn't given him the limited capacity for them.  And now...

The genome gritted his teeth as his stomach tightened and looked once again to Billy. A girl entered the house, glancing around with a frown before her eyes latched onto Kuja.  He smiled at her touch of fear.

Billy stopped long enough to tell her, "Hey, sit down.  Breakfast is almost ready."

The girl managed a weak smile and sat down across from Kuja, eyeing him and her father's clothes on him.  The clothes were nearly as bad as Sephiroth's all black wardrobe, but his other ones Sephiroth had purchased for him had been stained with blood and torn beyond repair.  The flannel button-down shirt and jeans were well worn but fit with a few rolls of the sleeves and legs and a belt.  At least his boots had made it.

"You sure you don't want something to eat, sir?" the boy asked as he served his sister some scrambled eggs. 

Kuja frowned at the fluffy texture and wondered if they were chocobo eggs although he doubted it.  Chocobos were apparently expensive, far too much to be eating them.  He shook his head with a smile and murmured, "No, thank you."

"What about your friends?"

"Yes, I'm sure they're hungry."

"Okay," he said with a smile and walked to the counter, pulling out a couple more plates from a shelf.

Slouching, Kuja sat back in his chair and, after fingering it again, pulled out one of the items Sephiroth had handed him nearly two hours before.  It was a small figurine that looked like a dragon.  His dragons had been white, slender, and beautiful.  This one, well, it looked similar to them.  The shape of the torso was off though.  Too barrel-like.  Its neck was too short.  Short toenailed, the feet looked more dog-like than bird-like.  But color-wise, it was made out of white marble, which made it heavy, yes, but also made it all the more disturbingly familiar.  And the feathered wings tucked close to its body...  Had it been larger and the carver more experienced and detail orientated, it could have been become the dragons of Terra.

It had to have been a coincidence.  The alterative...

The doorknob to the bedroom turned and he slipped the trinket back into his pocket.  Cloud looked similar to him, pants rolled up, but he'd chosen a short sleeved flannel shirt that hung to his elbows instead of past his wrists.  On Sephiroth, the clothing fit more or less perfectly, although the pants managed to be a bit short.  What a set the three of them were.  Three of them?  Kuja sighed and stood up, letting them take his chair with an offering gesture to it, since there were only four chairs, and walked to the window to look out at the endless fields.

One set of feet took a chair.  The other set...  Kuja could feel Sephiroth's eyes burrowing into his back.  Then he felt the man touch his mind and he closed his eyes. 

Kuja wanted...  What?

Sephiroth walked up behind him and rested his hands on his shoulders. 

The genome felt out for him.  Confusion, that could have easily become misery, rolled over him, and he pulled his mind away.  "I'm not trying to make you miserable.  Just go eat something.  This chocobo hunting sounds like an endless process, even with a materia."

Near his ear, the ex-general said, "Well, I'll haggle them down to get two so we only have to capture one."

Kuja reached out with his mind again.  In Sephiroth's he saw the man's hands on the trooper, their bodies tight, before the vision blackened into regret.  The sight twisted his stomach and left an imprint on his mind as if he'd experienced the closeness himself.  "Just go eat, please."

"Nothing happened between us, Kuja.  I'm just worried about him.  And you."

"I've seen your mind.  I know of your short-lived passions.  And it doesn't bother me."

"No?"  The disbelief in the single word was obvious.

"No.  We're lovers, but we're not in love.  I don't own you."

"Just hours ago-"

"Hours ago, yes, I was ready to kill him.  Now...  I don't want to make the same mistakes of my past."

Sephiroth was quiet for a moment, but then murmured, "Neither do I."

Kuja turned his head and looked at what he could of Sephiroth's face.  He couldn't help his small smile.  Sephiroth matched it and kissed him with soft lips.  "Eat, would you?"

Sephiroth brushed his lips over his cheek.  "Okay."  Then he pulled away, sat down at the table, and began to eat what Billy had served him. 

The creature watched him for a moment but then turned back to look out the window.  His fingers went again to the dragon in his pocket, caressing it, wondering why Sephiroth, of all people, even had it.


End file.
